Barry Jackson: Jordan Zimmerman trying to buy Miami Dolphins

Zimmerman should buy the Marlins instead.

 

Dont forget your cross to burn and your KKK hood, You racist ********er.

 

Yes, I should've left the word rape out. But I am by no means racist. I get tired of out of towners mocking Florida natives when they have no idea how diverse this place is. And you saying that was uncalled for.

I should've mentioned Michigan, Philly, Jersey people too so I didn't come across as a racist: I do apologize. Point being we're out numbered!

 

Not sure who "we" is in that statement...

 

Florida natives. People interested in The Florida sports scene.

 

Ugh.....wut?

 

I should know better to even mention terms like Cuban and Hatian without people assuming I'm racist. My initial post was in response to why don't locals go to games. My reply wasn't meant to offend.

 

Just replace the wrong words with soccer fans


And every other fan of an NFL team.


Dolphins fans are not outnumbered but there are tons of "other"

 

Thank you.

 

The Dolphins sold out every game thru the 2000's up until a few seasons ago. So no, not year after year. Notice that not long after Buffalo's run at consecutive super bowls they went from number one to a recent dip to the twenties. Winning brings the fans...

 

I'm not trying to bother you, but do you have a link to show that? I'm interested.

 

No bother at all....... it was up to 98 consecutive games the day of this article in 2010


http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...ou-have-to-have-a-looong-memory-or-a-med.html

 

I have been attending Dolphin and Hurricane games at the present stadium for years. I see absolutely nothing wrong with the stadium and why anyone thinks we need a new stadium is beyond me. I would imagine that the vast majority of the people on here who want a new stadium probably don't attend games in first place.

Just because the NFL demands that the stadium be updated for another Super Bowl doesn't mean it really needs to be updated. Personally I could care less if the SB ever returns to Miami. I attended a Super Bowl in Miami several years ago and I would rather sit at home and watch the game on TV. I think it would be absolutely foolish for the politicians to commit any money to upgrade the present stadium or to agree to finance a brand new stadium in South Florida. Especially when there is nothing wrong with the stadium we have now.

 

Well when you bring up specific races and shine them in in a fairly negative light like you did, and paint them with a broad brush like rape, yeah, I can understand why people would call you racist.

It wasn't a poor choice of words on your part. It was a poor thought process from the beginning.

 

Nothing you said here is incorrect. The Dolphins could play in a college stadium and it wouldn't make a difference to me. Thats what makes it even sadder.

 

As a fan of all things L.A., I would be so torn on this. On one hand, that would put them about four hours from me. On the other, it would kill tradition and ultimately, kill AIG's proposed new Dodger Stadium that this is rumored to be if they can't lure a football team.

If the Dolphins snake my baseball team's stadium, I would be pissed...I think.

 

Don't worry, the Dolphins aren't coming to L.A. I think if a team from Florida relocates to L.A., it will be the Jacksonville Jags, not the Dolphins. Actually I think the team most likely to move back to L.A. is probably the Raiders. People who think the Dolphins would move from Miami just don't realize how much of the value of the team is based on the fact the owner also owns the present stadium. If Ross were to move the team from Miami, he would lose hundreds of millions of dollars off the value of the franchise.

 

Not if LA builds him a new stadium.

Either way, there is no chance the Dolphins leave south Florida. 0 chance.

 

I think the Jags are about 1000 times more likely to be moved to LA than Miami.

If they were given a stadium, I think it's a no-brainer for Khan.

 

If L.A. built the stadium. Ross wouldn't be the stadiums owner. He would merely be the stadiums tenant for a certain number of games each year. He would have to pay to lease the stadium, while at the same time he would have to continue to maintain the stadium in Miami, which he would still own. Just maintaining the stadium in Miami would cost him millions of dollars each year.

I agree with you though. There is zero chance the Dolphins will be moving to L.A. or anywhere else for that matter.

 

Since I attended until 3 seasons ago, I can confirm that actual attendance was fine until then.

 

Either way, we need a stadium where the fans are closer to the field, in my opinion. Make the noise echo off of the walls and all around. I also dont know if the stadium needs to seat as many. An owner would want as many sets as possible, of course, but a more intimate field might make for a larger home field advantage. In stead of 76,000, why not scale down to 60,000 or 65,000?

 

In the last 5 years maybe but before that Miami was in the top 10 of the league for many years. Dolphins fans were very loyal, but as has been said by one poster, we (the old time So Fla residents) are outnumbered now, and this board proves it. Take a poll and ask how many of the regular posters have at one time lived here, but now live elsewhere. I'd say it's probably a higher number than more than 90% of the other 31 NFL franchises. People live in Minnesota generation after generation, but because of many different reasons, people have left South Fla in huge numbers.

I'll give you an example - myself. I am the last of the Mohicans' in my family. When I was born, I was the 3rd generation born in Miami (my grandfather was born here in 1906). There were family members on both sides of my parents families living here. Great-grandparents, grandparents, brother, aunt, great-uncles and aunts, cousins. I married and had children (1 son and 1 daughter). My wife died, my parents and grandparents all died, but my brother lives in north Broward (and will only come to Miami on holidays), and every other relative, including my children and grandchildren live either out of state, or north of Lake Okeechobee.

I am the lone wolf, out of more than 40 family members living here less than 25 years ago.

Many of them were Dolphin season ticket holders as late as 1985 or 1986. They are all gone and have been replaced with people who either because of being born in another country, or in another state, or being brought up by parents who still root for those places in which they left, it has drained the ability of any local sports team in South Florida to succeed on anything other than winning all the time (the bandwagon effect).

If I had been advising Mr. Ross, I would have told him to wait and buy another franchise because as an investment, the Miami Dolphins are a risky / bad investment. It just has some of the most limited potential for return than taking your money to another community.

I have to give Mr. Ross some credit for his Dolphins Express Busses he has provided to get people from other parts of the state involved, it's a step in the right direction, but unless he can provide a winner, and have that winning sustained, he may find that the next generation of upcoming potential fans are lost. It will make filling that stadium, or any other built down here all that much more difficult. The people here now don't care about the Dolphins and have ZERO interest in building them, or even helping Mr. Ross to build a stadium. It's a shame because we do have one of the oldest stadiums in the league. Even an old one, Soldier Field got a complete makeover about 10 years ago.

 

Well he could either sell it to the U of Miami or raze it. As far as I know, there isn't any debt on the stadium.

If I were Ross, I would move if I had the chance and had a publicly financed stadium elsewhere.

This scenario could happen.

The Chargers are well known to be dissatisfied with Qualcomm Stadium. San Diego is a perfect city for the Super Bowl, but yet there hasn't been one there for at least 10 years. Why because the NFL is trying to squeeze the city to give the Chargers a new stadium. It could happen that the Chargers leave SD for LA, and for a couple of years there is no team in SD. Mr. Ross (or someone else) approaches SD and says, "You want back in the NFL I will bring the Dolphins here if you build a stadium".

That very well could happen. Don't say zero %. Three years before it happened, no one would have ever believed that the Browns would leave Cleveland for Baltimore. If that can happen, anything can happen.

 

Your scenario really doesn't make much sense. First of all, the University of Miami wouldn't purchase the stadium from Ross. If they were going to spend that amount of money, they would be better off building a brand new stadium closer to the campus. Unfortunately they are a private university and they don't have the millions of dollars it would take to build a stadium or especially to buy the present stadium from Ross.

Second of all, Ross paid over a billion dollars for the Dolphins and the stadium. If he decided to leave as you state and he had to raze the stadium, he would lose several hundred million dollars over his original purchase price. Ross, above all is a business man. There is no way he would take a huge financial loss to move his team to a smaller market in San Diego.

The reality is that the Dolphins aren't going anywhere and they are also not getting a new stadium in South Florida, which would be paid for by the taxpayers. When the Browns moved to Baltimore, tax dollars were more readily available to build stadiums. Today, tax payers around the country are not willing to spend money on new stadiums, while the budgets for many necessary government agencies are being cut.

Based on all the financial trouble many cities in California have at this time. I don't imagine the citizens of San Diego would want to finance a new stadium for the Dolphins any more then the citizens of South Florida want to finance a new one. While it is easy to speculate that L.A. or San Diego would have an interest in the Dolphins or any other NFL team. If the city of San Diego is really interested in building a new stadium, they have a team now, so go ahead and build it. Why wait until the team leaves for another city?

In fact if the Chargers were to leave San Diego for another city. I doubt if the city would ever get another NFL team. I don't see the Chargers leaving San Diego to move to L.A. I believe that either the Raiders or Jags will be the team moving to L.A., once the stadium is built in L.A. Whichever one of these teams moves to L.A., the city they leave will never get another NFL franchise to replace them, IMO.

 

Stephen Ross also has made $200K in political donations this election cycle. He isn't doing that because he is passionate about the issues. It really has nothing to do with what the tax payers are willing to do. They get bent over regularly by their local representatives.

 

I certainly understand that Ross will do anything he can to get the tax payers to foot the bill for a new stadium. The problem is that the last mayor of Miami-Dade county who went against the will of the citizens and pushed through the new Marlins stadium, was recalled by the citizens of Miami-Dade county.

If Broward county or the rich citizens of Palm Beach county want to fund a new stadium, so be it. I just don't see the politicians in Miami-Dade county risking their positions by approving tax dollars for a new stadium.

 

You said it sooooo much better than I did. My comments came off as offensive. My anger is not race driven. I too had a very large portion of family (and friends) move out of S Florida because of the way it has changed, and yes that chaps my hide.

I'm not sure S Florida will ever have that generation to generation fan base the way things continue to change. Florida natives moving out, others moving in.

 

Why this would be good: Zimmerman is local. He is a South Florida guy with South Florida roots. He gets it and would be the bridge to bring the team back and maybe get a new stadium in the process.

Why this would be bad: No reason.

 

What do you think happens when crony politicians get voted out of office? They get their favors returned in the form of very well-paying jobs.

 

Actual attendance numbers for the Dolphins in the 90's on up until 2009 were excellent. An empty seat does not mean that a person is not at the game at Joe Robbie.

 

Dude the economy of South Florida benefits when we have a Super Bowl. Maybe you don't care, but a lot of people stand to make a lot of extra money, including many that have what are called "menial" jobs. Anything from waiters/waitresses to airport porters to hotel bellhops stand to make a lot of extra cash from the Super Bowl.

And then when they have extra cash they spend it, and that helps other South Fla businesses hire more workers, which in turn gives them extra cash to spend and the cycle begins anew.

 

Agreed.
Events like the Super Bowl and the Final Four are boons for cities.
Other than the hassle of alot of extra people making the roads and restaurants etc. busier, there is no negative to having these event come to town.

 

I guess you buy into the propaganda that the SB is a financial windfall for the locale economy. I just don't happen to be foolish enough to buy into this sales pitch from the NFL. It would cost well over a billion dollars for South Florida tax payers to build a new stadium right now. The SB might come to South Florida once every five or six years for a few decades. After that the NFL would once again blackmail the area into building another brand new stadium if they wanted the SB to return to South Florida again.

To spend over a billion dollars to attract a game which might come to South Florida maybe twice a decade doesn't make any financial sense, as afar as I am concerned. I just don't believe that the game has as much of positive impact financially to a community as you seem to think it does.

I also don't think that tax payers should be paying for a stadium, when the NFL is a private organization, run by private businessmen. If Ross wants a new stadium, he should built it himself and not expect the taxpayers of South Florida to build it for him.

I have attended Dolphins games for over three decades. If Ross wants to add a surcharge to ticket prices which would help in building the stadium, I have no problem with that. As someone who attends the games, I personally have no problem with helping pay for the stadium. I just don't think that the majority of the citizens in South Florida, who never attend games, should be forced to help pay for the stadium through their tax dollars.

I used to attend Marlin games, but I have refused to attend any more games since the politicians in Miami decided to go against the wishes of the majority of Miami citizens and build the Marlins a stadium with tax dollars. I am quite happy with the present Dolphin stadium and I don't see a need to build another new stadium or even upgrade the present stadium, especially if tax dollars are required to build a new stadium or renovate the present stadium.

 

Perhaps you think the only extra game to come to town would be the Super Bowl, but that isn't true.

There is the annual Orange Bowl game, the college championship game and many soccer events, the Rugby World Cup and the Soccer World Cup, concerts, which all events that would draw more than 100,000+ easily. Those 100,000+ spend, spend and spend some more when they are here, many on a corporate credit card so they just keep spending. (why I say 100,000+ is that many people just come to the city where the event is taking place and have no intention of going to the actual main event - they are here for the parties and to maybe do some business).

Our stadium is in danger of not being chosen for the College Football Championship, and the city/ county fathers have been told that. There are better & more modern stadiums than Sun Life. The Super Dome is undergoing a $ 300 million renovation after this season (I believe), there is the Jerry Jones Mahal in Dallas, Reliant Stadium in Houston, Glendale AZ and a renovation for the Rose Bowl all in the offing, as well as the new stadiums in Santa Clara & Los Angeles. All of them will have a substantial edge over our stadium if its left "as is".

I am not in favor of a new stadium, but a rebuilt Sun Life is the ticket. I think it can be accomplished under $ 400 million, if we act soon. I would think the best way to go is to ask Ross to put in half, and then collect a hotel bed tax for the rest of it. No way would I be in favor of general revenue funds being spent on a privately owned business. No socialism for the rich.

 

I think Ross should put up the majority of the money and there should be a ticket surcharge of $10 a ticket to pay for the rest of the stadium renovations. That way, those of us who actually attend games at the stadium will be the individuals paying for these improvements. I also am a Miami Hurricane season ticket holder and I wouldn't object to paying an additional $10 a ticket to help with these renovations. Every other event at the stadium should also include this $10 a ticket surcharge.

This way the average tax payers who doesn't go to any events at the stadium wouldn't be forced to pay for something they never use. I have no problem with paying more per ticket since I attend games. I just don't think the millions of people in Miami who never go to events at the stadium should be forced to pay for the stadium.

In fact there was a poll in the Miami Herald this morning in regards to using tax dollars on the stadium. Sixty nine percent of voters are opposed to using public funds to add a roof to the stadium. Only sixteen percent approve using public funds and fifteen percent of the voters were undecided. I don't care how much money Ross is funneling to locale politicians in an attempt to get public funding for his stadium. It just isn't going to happen. These politicians care far more about remaining in office then they do about the money Ross is throwing around, in an attempt to get their votes to use public funds, for something the public is so strongly opposed to.