January 06, 2010

Dolphins to seek $250m for stadium upgrades

Other shoe: dropped.

Only months after Miami-Dade commissioners agreed to borrow $490 million for a new Florida Marlins baseball stadium, local leaders and the Miami Dolphins are contemplating a push to seek public money to help fund $250 million in renovations to the football venue.

If you've read economist Phil Porter's work before, you'll know that the only way Miami makes back $250 million landing additional Super Bowls (which is the goal of the renovations — apparently at the last one held there, some fans got wet when it rained) is if Peyton Manning leaves his wallet lying around. If there's a silver lining here, it's that the money might be taken from convention center hotel funding, which is a similarly terrible idea.

And hey, speaking of Porter, here he is in the Miami Herald story on the Dolphins' demands:

Philip Porter, an economics professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, said a Super Bowl amounts to a fiscal blip for large economies. That's particularly true for popular winter tourism destinations like South Florida, which can count on packed hotels in February even without a Super Bowl.

"If you wanted economic impact, you'd do a lot better taking the money you would spend on a stadium and drop it out of a helicopter," he said.

That's a good point, and — hey, waitaminnit. Helicopter? Allen Sanderson, call your trademark attorney!