Will Super Bowl boost Miami Gardens?
The city of Miami Gardens will play host to the Super Bowl, following confirmation from the National Football League (NFL) that the 54th annual national championship game is set for February 2020 at the Miami Dolphin stadium in the city. Officials expect the games to bring a much-needed economic boost leading up to the event.
Despite the lucrative attention and estimated $450 million renovations invested by Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross, the stadium has yet to translate to big dollars for local residents. Carlos Potts, a sub-contractor on the stadium’s renovations, says job opportunities for city residents related to the stadium has been limited to temporary jobs.
“The stadium attracts large crowds when NFL games are played there during the NFL season, but this really hasn’t benefited the residents,” says Potts. “The crowds hardly spend money with the city, as they leave for their homes in other cities after the games ends.”
This situation may change if current plans to give the city more control over the stadium are successful. Residents are up to vote August 30 on whether to give joint control over building and zoning power around the stadium to both Miami Gardens and Mimi-Dade County over building and zoning of the stadium and surrounding area.
The news would be welcome for Charlotte Best, Barbadian-American cosmetologist, one of the estimated 28,000 Caribbean-Americans living in the city. Best remains optimistic that greater control over the venue would “attract more events and benefit the city, rather than the ten or so Miami Dolphins games played there between October and January.”
Other than hosting another Super Bowl game, other objectives Stephen Ross has for spending millions to refurbish the stadium is to stage more frequent sporting activities and cultural events there.
But “holding more events at the stadium cannot be the main hope for more benefits the city,” says Potts. “The city has to negotiate with the stadium owners in collaborating [with] businesses that serve visitors coming into Miami Gardens. There’s a lot of property surrounding the stadium that is yet to be developed as businesses. The city can also be more active in bringing more cultural events to the city as in the case of the annual Miami Gardens Jazz Festival.”
That’s the plan Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert proposed in his recent State of the City address. Gilbert said the city needed “places where residents can shop, eat, entertain and recreate.” He believes a tighter partnership with the Dolphin Stadium can be a catalyst to meet this need, bringing more direct and indirect tax revenue to the city and fostering growth for residents.
