The stadium now known as ‘Land Shark’ has played host to four Super Bowls over the past 20 years, with a fifth coming next February. Overall, the Miami area will have hosted 10 of the league’s 43 championship games, more than any other city.
But with new, state-of-the-art stadiums popping up across the NFL, especially in the typical “Super Bowl” cities, competition to host the NFL’s annual championship game is ratcheting up. And absent some significant changes, ‘The Shark’ could soon become chum.
So says Frank Supovitz, the NFL’s senior vice president of events.
“You have to look at what the other cities are offering in terms of comfort,” Supovitz told the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.
Comfort was certainly lacking in Miami’s last Super Bowl, which saw Indianapolis defeat Chicago in February 2007. That game was played in a steady downpour with wind gusts up to 21 mph. The bad weather was an unfortunate first for the NFL and ruined the experience for many fans who paid big money for the privilege.
The experience left a sour taste in the league’s mouth.
“I’m not going to have anyone rained on in North Texas,” said Supovitz, referring to the Dallas’ new $1.8 billion, retractable-roof stadium. “They’re not going to get rained on in Indianapolis.”
Cowboys Stadium and Indianapolis’ Lucas Oils Field, the league’s two newest venues, both protect fans and players from the elements. And both will both host the 2011 and 2012 Super Bowls.
Though only 22 years of age, Joe Robbie Stadium (as it was originally known) is one of the league’s graybeards.
Indeed, only nine of the league’s other 30 stadiums are older than Miami’s. Next season the number drops to eight, when the new $1.4 billion Meadowlands Stadium begins hosting Giants and Jets games in 2010. The 49ers, Vikings and Chargers, another team whose city frequently hosts the big game, are also actively seeking new digs.
And if/when the league ultimately fulfills its desire to move a franchise back to Los Angeles, a perennial Super Bowl host when it had a team of its own, a new stadium will be built (presumably in City of Industry, CA).
The league typically rewards cities who build new stadiums with a Super Bowl, provided they can protect against the elements. Look no further than the likes of Jacksonville (warm weather), Detroit (dome) and Indianapolis (dome) hosting or being awarded recent Super Bowls despite being smaller or unattractive markets to host a February spectacle.
And if you think that San Francisco or Minneapolis can’t host the big game, they already have.
Suddenly the landscape looks crowded. And Miami’s “every three years” goal appears out of reach even without the sharp criticism the Miami delegation received in its lost bid for the 2013 Super Bowl, won by New Orleans.
Since the Wannstedt era, the Dolphins have looked into virtually every possible scenario regarding stadium alteration, including moving seats closer to the field — not feasible according to engineers — and putting a roof over the entire structure.
At one point, previous owner Wayne Huizenga weighed two options; spend $250 million to improve this stadium much as possible, or $750 million and build a new one altogether.
Since it was all coming out of his pocket, Huizenga opted for the lesser of the two expenses and committed to the Miami Gardens location. The result was a rebuilt Club Level, which opened in 2007, and other improvements such as the massive high definition scoreboards and fascia which wraps around the stadium.
New Dolphins CEO Mike Dee has publicly spoken about about the subject, specifically the need to remain competitive facilities-wise. Management not only has to worry about attracting NFL championships, but also the college variety.
“We only have one more BCS championship committed,” Dee said of the 2013 game. Atlanta and Dallas both “want in” as BCS hosts, he said.
One area of focus on this past offseason was renovating the concession areas to help take care of customers more quickly. The team has also attempted to liven is pregame festivities outside the stadium and has designs on restaurants inside the stadium. New hand-held technology has made its way to the Club Level, with stadium-wide presence in the works.
But making major changes to the playing and seating area ‘inside’ the stadium will be difficult as long as baseball’s Florida Marlins continue to call it home. The Marlins are scheduled to move into their own stadium — which is being constructed where the Orange Bowl once sat — after the 2011 season, which opens an annual six month window of vacancy for construction crews to work on potential projects.
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