Miami Dolphins Owner: Steve Ross the Portrait of a Bona fide Businessmensch!

The Miami Dolphin's Sunlife Stadium

I was listening to Jimmy Cefalo's Radio Talk Show this morning while I sat in traffic. He was interviewing Steve Ross, the latest Owner of the NFL Franchise of the Miami Dolphins. The subject of course was the renovation of the Football Stadium, for which Mr. Ross seeks Public Funding help, as many Sports Franchise and Stadium owners do.

Miami Heat's AA Arena

For those of you who have followed the Fiasco of the past with regards to the first Miami Heat Arena and recently the catastrophic and scandalous scam of the Marlins Stadium, you must think that Ross is either out of his mind, asking for help from the County Authorities, or he must think the Miami-Dade County Politicians and the rest of us must be.

After the fast one the Miami Marlins pulled on the taxpayers a couple of years ago, Ross must have a Brass Pair the size of Footballs, to come out so soon and ask for what initially seemed to be public funding for his private stadium. I always say that if you choose to go into business for yourself, you must be prepared to pay the cost as readily as you are to reap the profits. Right? Private business is private business.

Miami Marlins Stadium

This morning's interview by Jimmy Cefalo opened my eyes on a few points. The deal, is not comparable by any means to those of the past like the Miami Heat Arena (at least the Heat has always kept its arena full and doesn't churn & burn the franchise and its fans like the Marlins do) or the Marlins Stadium. Ross knew that he faced an uphill battle with the authorities who must now prove they are neither corrupt nor mindless
drooling idiots by falling for the same trick twice. He face a public relation nightmare as well since Public Opinion  was decidedly turned against anymore public funding of private enterprise particularly another allegedly Rich Sports Franchise.

That is until you analyze the deal and the Dolphins' objective point by point:

1. The stadium has never received a dime of public money: In 1966 Joe Robbie founded the Franchise and 2 decades later built the "Joe Robbie Stadium" with his own funds, knowing he wouldn't get any public funding help. 
2. The "Sunlife Stadium" (current name of the Stadium) is the only in the NFL and in the US, who pays Property taxes to the County, since it has no public money invested in it. It currently pays approximately $4 Million annually in Property Taxes. Not too shabby.
3. The funding is essentially an Interest Free Loan to the franchise that will be fully repaid over the next 2 decades by the Dolphin's Franchise
4. The funding will come from additional taxes on Hotel rooms fares, some of which is already being collected. So tourists will essentially pay for it.
5. Mr. Ross has committed in writing to bring 20 Major International events to the Stadium, including 2 superbowl events the first of which will be Superbowl 50 or 51 and some 18 BCS events, not too mentions MLS and other Major Soccer Events.
6. There is  a penalty  of well over $100 Million, if the Dolphins fail to bring those 20 events to town.
7. The cost of the Referendum vote has been paid up front already by Mr. Ross, around $4.8 Million and is NON-REFUNDABLE, even though, the bill that would allow the referendum vote to take place is currently going through the State House of Representatives and may not even pass. If that is the case, the Referendum won't happen and Mr. Ross would have lost his $4.8 Million, not to mention the fact that he will be stuck with an aging Stadium that can't really compete with other venues for major events like the Superbowl.
8. Mr. Ross became a Billionaire in Real Estate Development, but the Miami Dolphins Franchise is in the Red and has been for the past few years. He knew that when he bought it and did it anyway, confident in his ability that he would be able to turn it around once he gained full control of the ownership (Huyizenga out).
9. Ross never threatened to take the Dolphins out of Miami to get the deal, like the Marlins did shamelessly.
10. Mr Ross signed a comittment binding himself and his Estate not to sell the Franchise to anyone who might take the Dolphins out of Miami, for the next 30 years, thus limited his ability to leverage or liquidate his business asset.

Taking the above 10 points into consideration, one must wonder about Mr. Ross' business wisdom. From a busisness stand point it doesn't appear to make much sense. Why would he pursue this, the risks seem to outweight the potential benefits.

Either that or Mr. Ross is as tough as the Game of Football his team plays. He is risking a lot in Financial Capital and Business Credibility Capital. He grew up in Miami Beach, and as a Floridian he remains true to his roots, in that aspect. He wants to rebuild the franchise and make it the winning team it was in the late 70's. The one who still holds the record of 2 consecutive Superbowl rings with at least one fully undefeated season. If he pulls this off, he would have demonstrated the extent of his exceptional business acumen, by transforming against all odds, a major business enterprise, that has been failing for years by all standards and whose fan base and political support has been steadily eroding. It is plagued by deterioration assets, saddled with the worse deal of the NFL history (no public money ever received, and the only one paying local property taxes). It is competing with venues, for major events, with brand new State of the Art Stadiums less than 10 years old outnumbering the Dolphins facility 10 to 1. I could go on and on...

So he has proven that he is reliable and frank. I mean, he already fronted the Referendum cost and is not even sure that referendum will be approved by the State Legistlators. Did I mention that the upfront cost are not refundable? He was open about not moving the franchise out of the county, no matter what the outcome of the referendum if there is one, will be. He also knows that if he pulls this off, and turns the team around to the winning team we all know it can be, he will have a gold mine in his hands and will more than make up for all the risks he is taking. So he is very brave but also a very smart risk taker. This isn't the apparent brazen move of a gambler. The Franchise is in a pretty bad shape on all levels. Attendance at the stadium is low and he admitted to Jimmy Cefalo that no matter what happens, even if he gets his way with everything, the only way to pull out of the financial mess the Dolphins are mired in, is to win games and keep winning games. Winning is everything. In a sports franchise, winning translates into earnings and then into net profit. Mr. Ross is not only a visionary of the Caliber of Joe Robbie when it comes to this NFL Franchise, he is also a Formidable Strategist. Everymove has been evaluated in advance for its risks/benefits ratio. Everything has been carefully planned, weighed and he has made preparations for any adverse event that might occur on the way, including a total failure of the project.

Jimmy's interview has opened my eyes on this matter. I no longer have the negative Knee-jerk reaction have had when hearing of this deal prior to this morning. Those were the side effect to the sourness I still feel from the Marlins Deal.

Mr. Ross, you have my RESPECT, as a business man, a Corporate citizen, as a strategist, as a Man, you have impressed me today. You truly are a Business Mensch!

GO DOLPHINS!!!