Ball in his court
Dolphins owner Steve Ross is reportedly considering moving the Miami Open to a tennis center near Hard Rock Stadium.
The uncertain future of Key Biscyane as the long-term home for the Miami Open has prompted Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross to consider moving the combined ATP-WTA world-class tennis tournament in and around Hard Rock Stadium.
Ross, a billionaire real estate mogul, would “continue to explore” the idea of a tennis center around Hard Rock Stadium, “if it meant keeping the tournament in Miami,” a source said.
In the past three years the combined men’s and women’s tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., known as the BNP Paribas Open, has surpassed the Miami Open as the tournament of the year, as voted on by the players.
Oracle founder and Indian Wells owner Larry Ellison has sunk $200 million into the event that annually precedes the Miami Open to make it into a state-of-the-art facility with electronic line calling on every court.
Nearly five years ago, Miami Open tournament director Adam Barrett and IMG, owners and operators of the tournament, put together a $50 million proposal to upgrade the facilities, including construction of another stadium in addition to the two standing.
However, the Matheson family, who owns the 32-acre plot the tournament is built on, continues to fight against any expansion in court. Last year, a Miami-Dade appeals court upheld the Matheson’s objection, derailing the proposal.
Barrett declined to comment Sunday on a Miami Herald report that said he met with Ross and Tom Garfinkel, the president and CEO of the Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, on Thursday to discuss the issue.
Another source said Miami-Dade officials would never go for a move to Hard Rock Stadium because the tournament pays the city about $2.5 million per year for the event. If Ross gets the tournament the city would have to pay him as part of the deal Ross made with Miami-Dade County when he selffinanced the $500 million renovation of the stadium.
The deal commits Miami-Dade to use tourist development money to pay the Dolphins for every special event they host at the stadium, capping the amount paid in any year at $5 million.
While the players love the proximity to the beaches and South Beach, they’re also realistic. Several have said that if the Miami Open can’t keep up with the times, then theywould favor a relocation of the 33-year-old event, which draws more than 300,000 fans and has an annual economic impact of nearly $390 million to South Florida.
“It depends on the importance of the growth of the site,” said 18-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer on Saturday. “I know they can’t grow, so traffic is rough. It’s not getting easier. I don’t think they can improve much in terms of capacity. So the question is, is everybody happy this way or not? If you want to go bigger, clearly you have tomove.”
Tommy Haas, once ranked No. 2 in the world and played his final Miami Open singles match last week, is the tournament director of Indian Wells.
“When I first arrived here at this tournament itwas ’92 or ’93,” Haas said. “At that time itwas always the biggest tournament after the Grand Slams. The Lipton it was called, and itwas just basically around the corner from where I grew up playing [in Bradenton].
“So I’ve had a really close relationship with this event. Unfortunately, it just hasn’t been able to grow. Unfortunately there is not much that has been done in many, many years now, and like everything in life, you have to progress and you have to sort of step it up at times and give the players and fans and sponsors what they want as well.”
There has been speculation on several potential sites for the tournament, such as the new home of the USTA near Orlando.