Stephen Ross donates $200 million to Michigan

Yeah that's the other thing. The optics on this are extremely poor, and he's going scorched earth on whatever chances he had at being able to revisit the stadium funding idea at a future date.

I believe it's been reported that half of the $200 million will go to the business school and half to the athletics program. Steve Ross is willing to spend $100 million to help out the University of Michigan athletics program even though it gives him no direct financial benefit, but he's not willing to foot the bill for stadium upgrades that would have given him direct financial benefits, because it also would have given the city of Miami some benefits and he couldn't stand the idea of them getting a free ride.

Let's take the motivation thing completely aside for a moment. Let's take all of the judgments about Steve Ross out of it. Let's discuss this purely in terms of what will most efficiently get those stadium upgrades done.

Is this a move that makes it EASIER to get those stadium upgrades at some future point?

No.

Is this a move that may make it HARDER to get those stadium upgrades at some future point?

Absolutely.

So why should anyone who wants those stadium upgrades to happen eventually, one way or another, be a fan of this?

 

I don't follow local politics. Is the guy he ousted a R or D? Ross leans D heavily.

 

I find no real value in this kind of subjective discussion about whether an entire town should be classified with some negative connotation like "moocher" or not.

You're not disputing anything I said in the post you quoted, though. I'll say that.

 

No he doesn't.

 

I'm not disputing at all. I was just pointing out that this shouldn't be anything that is controversial. The guy has a hell of a lot more loyalty to the school that gave him an education en route to becoming the biggest developer in America, than the market in which he bought a football team just a few years ago.

The word "moocher" wasn't brought up by me. There is a negative connotation, but it really is a matter of semantics. When you go market by market, and look at what is being provided to NFL franchises, Miami is near the bottom. Of course the owner isn't going to feel any type of loyalty of obligation to that market. Certainly not even close to the obligation he should feel to his alma mater. One is business, one is personal. I'm not sure why anyone would believe Ross should have some type of personal affection for the Miami market.

 

Ross is pretty pragmatic in terms of his political affiliations. He's going to back whomever helps his business interests the most.

 

Other than his recent flirtation with Romney last year, I'm seeing primarily Dem donations every year previous. In fact, the NFL is heavily Repub (3-1) with the Dolphins leading the Dem support, with most of it from Ross (when I checked 2011 numbers).

Maybe he had a recent change of heart then, since when I last looked he was primarily donating to D's. Or just disliked our President.

 

Would you please explain the myriad of ways NFL owners can benefit financially from hosting the game. Jerry Jones profited by owning the catering company that won the bid and multiple pizza stores. That doesn't seem to me to be tied in to him owning the stadium at all. I'm sure his catering company bids on many events all over the country and the article clearly states that the game didn't have to be played at his stadium for him to profit from SB Sunday pizza sales.

 

Confusing statement, given the fact that you just argued that teams should pour out a lot of their time, effort and MONEY putting together Super Bowl bid proposals for no other reason than some sense of obligation they're supposed to feel for the city (since they don't get any money from Super Bowls, evidently).

Listen, if this is your point of view there's nothing for it but to agree to disagree. I think you're in a miniscule minority if you think it's perfectly alright for the owner of the Miami Dolphins to feel no real loyalty to his franchise's city or its fans, and to just look at the ownership of the franchise as a cold, detached investment holding. You feel that's ok. I'm pretty sure most people out there do not. I'm pretty sure most owners out there do not. I'm pretty sure Steve Ross would disagree with that (publicly) even if he felt different privately. I'm pretty sure Roger Goodell would have an issue with that statement's validity.

 

Care to explain in detail how it is impossible for Steve Ross to benefit financially from hosting a Super Bowl so long as he doesn't own a catering company?

 

No absolutely not, I think he will benefit most definitely from renovating sunlife, why do you say that?..it will be able to compete against the other major markets then, and get in the rotation of superbowls and college playoffs, along with increased attendance from making sunlife a more comfortable place in the blazing hot sun and humidity..Is it my ideal?, no, the ideal is getting a brand new one, but I'm dreamin in that one considering the markets lack of vision.

 

Because the deal he offered us was more than fair, and I want upgrades more than anyone.??

Please, can we make this simple, was the deal he offered more than fair relatively speaking?

 

They do get money from SBs. 1/32nd of every SB held goes to the Dolphins. And the sense of obligation for Ross isn't a small thing. He has to sit in a room full of 31 other NFL owners and explain why his market is one of the only ones not paying to have an NFL franchise. Stephen Ross is part of the NFL cartel, and as the owner of the Miami team, his job is to get Miami to do what benefits the league.

The money for SB proposals is really a drop in the bucket, and barely worth considering. The Dolphins pay $20M/yr. in interest payments on renovations that they owe $235M on, for a stadium that is only worth $165M. Fixing their debt is, and should be, the #1 priority for the organization.

Stephen Ross should not be compared to most of the other owners. Most owners get financial support from their market. Thats the point here.

Stephen Ross also has a fiduciary duty to the other parties that own the Miami Dolphins. He isn't the only person who owns the team. Certainly it would be great to have a single entity who wants to pump their life savings into the Dolphins, but thats not reality. Wayne Huizenga had the team on the block for a while. The NFL was against Ross owning a team for a while. Eventually it happened though - because there were no better options.

 

This ^^^

I'm sure when you factor in the tax deduction the difference between the 2 amounts is huge.

 

So then you admit that he is refusing to engage an investment that will benefit him in the long run, because it will also benefit the public and he objects to the public receiving a free ride?

Yet he just gave a free ride to the University of Michigan...to the tune of the same amount he refused to give to the city of Miami.

 

Are we just chalking up when he says he's committed to both projects as owners speak and lies?

I have no problem with him giving the two hundred mill that the Miami market rejected to his school and creating that personal legacy.

 

He's not refusing, he already offered,He wants a joint business decision because it benefits both, that's the standard in this business, there is no standard for him investing all of it.

 

I'm willing to bet he's still good for the two hundred mill and the same deal..Miami officials need to figure out what the dolphins and venue mean to them

 

He refused to engage in $375 million worth of stadium upgrades that you yourself admit will benefit him financially in the long term, because to do so would have done the public a $200 million favor without charging them for it.

Instead, he did a $200 million favor for the University of Michigan...without charging them for it.

 

No. He offered $200 million towards the stadium. That deal fell through so he donated it.

 

So then you have a major problem with the precedent that is already set, you have a problem with all the owners?

So unless he foots the bill for a poor football market, he's the bad guy?

 

Why is everyone forgetting the deal, in writing he said he would pay for the majority percentage, and laid out a very nice plan for it to be paid back, even guaranteeing so.

Where are folks getting their anger thinking he should be responsible for 100 percent,?, because the marlins fu&$ed us?

 

Let's say I have two sons. Let's say I have houses in New York and Miami. I live in Miami most of the year, except for the summer because let's be honest it's hot and humid and gross down here during the summer.

So I need someone to live in that house in Miami and actively take care of it during the summer, otherwise all kinds of bad things could happen (all the normal reasons people have other people house-sit vacant houses for them).

One of my sons lives in Miami. He needs a place to stay for the summer. I could get $3000 for the summer if I rent the place to some stranger, or I could let my son have the house for the summer. Either way, I'm going to reap the benefits of having a house sitter for the house, and if my son rented the house I would enjoy even more benefit because I could trust him more than a stranger.

I decide to rent the house to a stranger instead of letting my son have it for the summer, because I can't stand the idea of my son getting $3000 worth of benefit for free, even if it mutually benefits me. Is that a problem? No. Of course not. Maybe you want to teach him a lesson, nothing is for free. He's got to pay rent.

But then what if I turn around and buy my other son a $3000 laptop?

Now, there's nothing inherently bad about what I just did. It's my choice. But it does show how I feel about one son versus the other son, and there's no use pretending it doesn't.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of public money going towards private enterprise like stadiums etc. Yes, the city benefits, but the owner benefits from the city, otherwise there wouldn't be a franchise there to build a stadium for. I'm all for, giving them tax breaks and expedited permits/etc.

But CK's premise is just wrong. He's acting like Ross had $400 million to spend. Ross had $200 million to spend, he first tried spending it at the stadium, that went belly up, so he spent it somewhere else.

 

Ross has a lot more than $200M to spend. Donating to his alma mater is a completely separate issue, and trying to make his charitable donation to an institution of higher education about the Miami Dolphins seems extremely petty.

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What. A. Bastard.

 

One son doesn't love you, the other one does.

The city is not supporting the team..where it gets gray for me is that imo, some of that is related to the stadium itself, it's a sick viscious cycle, but, I cannot fault the plan he put forward to the city of Miami, the vision is there to grasp, and it was a very fair deal..

Could you tell me the reasons why you feel he should go The Jerry jones route in this renovation project?

 

Whoever mentioned it on page one is correct that there are huge tax advantages to making contributions to non-profits (e.g. U of M). A $200 million contribution to a non-profit does not equate to taking that same amount out of his checkbook. It's part of the reason rich people give so generously; it doesn't cost them an actual dollar to contribute a dollar. On a side note I hate that they play it what was a multi-sport stadium. The fans are so far away from the sidelines that their influence is essentially neutralized. I love stadiums where the fans are right up next to the sidelines (Green Bay) and they can let their presence be known.

 

Hundred percent agree, what folks don't seem to grasp, is how an enterprise, correct that, smart enterprise, can take advantage of that feeling you love on so many levels.

 

I don't think this scenario accounts for the huge tax benefit received from it being a donation. In your scenario, let's say the son the father bought the laptop for is going to to do about $1000 worth of work for dear old dad using said laptop.

 

You keep bringing up Miami, but they had absolutely nothing to do with the plan failing. A state law needed to be changed in order to allow the county to raise the tourist tax.

As we all know, the bill to change that law was never brought to the floor of the House. Now, whether or not the Dolphins would have won the referrendum is another story, and it certainly didn't look good from the raw early count, but who knows.

Either way, it has nothing to do with the City or the County. Neither entity can afford this proposition without the tourist money which they are unable to raise without the State giving them permission to do so. End of story until the state law changes.

 

Miami subsidizes plenty of businesses without raising tourist taxes. Miami-Dade isn't some type of helpless entity. T

 

Oh, I'm sure they could pass another Marlins type deal and get themselves on the hook for another billion dollars but no one in their right minds would stand for that.

The Dolphins knew this which is why they wanted to icnrease the tourist tax, which Miami-Dade agreed to pending a referrendum. At that point it was in the state's hands, and whether there just wasn't enough time, or ross didn't have the right lobbyist or whatever, it didn't happen.

That's the end of the story for now unless something changes. And this deal goes beyond giving a tax break to lure a company or easing some regulatory process. This is $200 million in cold hard cash, handed over to a guy who just spent $200 million to build a few buildings with his name on it at U of M. Not a good look.

 

Fine. If you want me to adjust for the tax benefit I will.

I bought my other son a $2300 laptop.

 

God bless you for actually having real knowledge of this instead of some vague general sense of..."But...TAX BENEFITS tho...right?"

You'd swear people think that donating $200 million could actually somehow turn out to be profitable because of some vague unfigurable tax shenanigans.

 

This is mind boggling on a number of levels. The University of Michigan is the last institution that needs a $200 million "donation."

Just when you think you've seen it all from this guy...

 

LOL. Literally?

Sweet. (filing that away just in case)