Miami Dolphins ask tax payers to fund half of $400M stadium renovation

Stephen Ross and Sun Life Stadium
Stephen Ross and Sun Life Stadium

After playing their last game in Sun Life Stadium in September 2011, the Miami Dolphins have unveiled a roughly $400 million renovation plan for the stadium and are asking taxpayers to fund up to half of the project, the Miami Herald reported. Majority owner and related chairman Stephen Ross has pledged to fund at least a majority of the project, which would be finished by the start of the 2015 season — in time to host Super Bowl L.

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Dolphins CEO Mike Dee said the team is considering either increasing tax on mainland Miami-Dade hotels from six percent to seven percent or a $3 million sales tax rebate from Florida on top of a $2 million rebate the stadium already receives to fund the renovation.

“People ask why don’t you pay for the whole thing?” Ross said at the lunchtime press conference. “I’ve spent more on a sports team than anyone else in the United States. […] There’s a limit to how much capital you can put into something.” [Miami Herald]Christopher Cameron