Miami Move to Dolphins Stadium One Step Closer

bigserving said:

At least now there is somebody involved in the event that is willing to commit and spend money to improve the event and the facilities.
Hopefully, Stephen Ross will have the vision and desire to have the event compete with Larry Ellison and the event at Indian Wells.

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The will and desire to improve the event was there, but legal issues about Crandon Park were the issue the organizers faced all these years. This is not a recent problem - IMG was ready to splash 50 millions to revamp Crandon Park, but they were unable to Matheson's blocks of that based on the contracts which allowed Crandon Park to be used for the tournament. It is non-sense to leave a paradisiacal place like Key Biscayne for the Dolphins Stadium, however IMG had no choice really. Now those 50 millions will be invested in the Dolphins' stadium. What a loss for the tournament honestly, but that is how things are

http://miamiopen.com/2017-news-miami-open-2019-announcement-en?

Link to the artist renderings of the new facility.

I'm confused. Is that main stadium in the rendering going to be where the finals are held or will it actually be in Hard Rock stadium? The rendering leads me to think that the center court will be the biggest court outside while the story indicates the final will actually be inside Hard Rock Stadium.

There's room for two or three courts inside the stadium.

there's a new Wall St. Journal article up on the move too..if you have access

https://www.wsj.com/articles/miami-open-to-move-to-hard-rock-stadium-in-2019-1513802101

an image of what it would look like I think

This tournament was in need of upgrading, but the sight of the expressway and the parking lots around the courts in place of the majestic Crandon Park saddens me.

I was hoping they could do something interesting like use the stadium as is for the main courts stadium and have 3 main courts side by side.

MugOpponent said:

I'm confused. Is that main stadium in the rendering going to be where the finals are held or will it actually be in Hard Rock stadium? The rendering leads me to think that the center court will be the biggest court outside while the story indicates the final will actually be inside Hard Rock Stadium.

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The main court will be inside the Hard rock stadium, this is how the transofrmation is done :

bigserving said:

At least now there is somebody involved in the event that is willing to commit and spend money to improve the event and the facilities.
Hopefully, Stephen Ross will have the vision and desire to have the event compete with Larry Ellison and the event at Indian Wells.

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And here is where the logic falls into place.

Otacon said:

The main court will be inside the Hard rock stadium, this is how the transofrmation is done :

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That is neat as hell.

It should work well once you are inside the space and forget about the surrounding ugliness.

You can now see why the gargantuan style would not have worked on Key Biscayne!

A big flat expanse with a big stadium near a big freeway is what was needed once you want to 'go big or go home'.

Mr Matheson did well.

Otacon said:

This tournament was in need of upgrading, but the sight of the expressway and the parking lots around the courts in place of the majestic Crandon Park saddens me.

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Very sad indeed, more parking lot than anything else. Compare this to Rome, Monte Carlo, Queens...or better not!

Bluefan75 said:

So help me out here. I'm hearing a lot of complaints, but I'm not making the connection. Are you guys all people who will attend the Miami Open? If so, yeah, I get it. I've been to the stadium back when the Marlins played there, and I would rather spend a day at Key Biscayne.

If you're not attending, then what? It's going to be played at a (gasp!!) football stadium? The court is still going to be 78' long, and the TV cameras will be just as close. Is it a sacred thing that Ashe be the largest tennis venue? I mean, Davis Cup matches get played in temporary facilities all the time. Or is this a case of "how dare money enter our little world of sport?" guffawing? Like they would do in Elizabethan times.

Maybe I wasn't brought up right, but I'm not sure I'm seeing the issue here.

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Have you ever watched a University of Miami football game on TV? It’s a disaster. They can barely fill the stadium and it kills the atmosphere, even for the TV viewing audience.

Vrad said:

Have you ever watched a University of Miami football game on TV? It’s a disaster. They can barely fill the stadium and it kills the atmosphere, even for the TV viewing audience.

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They'll be using half the stadium or less for tennis. If they don't sell tickets, then yeah it might resemble a mausoleum, but I would hazard a guess there is research to suggest that won't happen. After all, for all the beauty/atmosphere/etc, of Crandon Park, by the looks of things, it is an absolute biatch to get to. This is close to a freeway.

And the U of Miami's campus is in Coral Gables, which is south of Miami, and the stadium is north. Tough to get college crowds to travel that far to watch a game. The Dolphins don't have that trouble.

When UM was 10-2 this season the stadium was full for VA tech, Notre Dame games. So wrong.

Tournament had to move. Facilities in Key Biscayne were antiquated. Unless you had a box ticket with a parking pass had to park 2 miles away and be bussed to arena. The grandstand and outside courts were temporary facilities with bleachers.

It used to take 2 hrs to get off Key Biscayne. Now it will take 10 min, straight onto the turnpike. They are going to build a 30 court permanant site.

The tournament did not have to move and Matheson would have had to allow an upgrade to the site, but he had the right to block expansion.

So you have a choice between charm and dollars, and they probably rightly chose the dollars as size and parking are king in America.

The French Open had the choice to move to a great site in the suburbs, but chose to stay in Paris, and they still can't get permissions and everything is at a standstill.

Expanding onto property you neither own nor control is a tricky business unless you can find someone with a huge carpark to spare.

Bluefan75 said:

... I would hazard a guess there is research to suggest that won't happen.

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I wish I could project myself into the future meeting where some tool from [some consulting group] whips out this hypothetical research you think exists and plops it on the conference room table and says sheepishly "but our research did show there was a huge market that would spend their vacation to come on site to watch a tennis event in a massive stadium, surrounded by a parking lot. Though we may have overestimated the extent to which the entire South American continent would fly in for JMDP."

Bluefan75 said:

After all, for all the beauty/atmosphere/etc, of Crandon Park, by the looks of things, it is an absolute biatch to get to. This is close to a freeway.

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As far as getting to CP, it was a ride from downtown over the causeway to the Key. A rather scenic ride by the beaches. It was especially nice in the morning though depending on when you left the site there could be moderate traffic. Most of the hotels you'd stay at for the tourney offered a shuttle bus.

Miami Open shows plans for new site at Hard Rock Stadium

http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/21825872/miami-open-shows-plans-new-site-hard-rock-stadium

article....

AP:

MIAMI -- While the Miami Open is giving up its picturesque island setting for suburban sprawl, the tennis tournament's new home will include a 13,800-seat showcase court in the Miami Dolphins' stadium and 29 permanent outer courts, with the largest seating 5,042 spectators.

IMG, which owns the event, said Wednesday that the new site will include more space for players, fans and parking, along with better infrastructure and amenities. The tournament won permission Tuesday from the Miami-Dade County commission to move 18 miles north in 2019 from its longtime home of Key Biscayne.

Construction on the new tennis complex will begin soon and cost more than $50 million, with much of the work done on grounds that had been used for football parking. Total seating capacity will increase to 32,474, from 25,062, including 5,660 at practice courts. Lighting will allow for more night matches than in the past.

The stadium court will use both permanent and temporary seats, with the net located over the 50-yard line. Screens will hide unused football seats.

There will be double the number of parking spaces and suites at the new site. The grounds will feature a "tennis oasis" for fans with the largest video screen of any tournament.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who also owns the stadium, said last spring that he was willing to invest in a tennis complex on stadium grounds because he wanted to keep the tournament in South Florida. The Dolphins then reached an agreement with IMG and the county.

"We are extremely excited that the Miami Open, a global entertainment event, will remain in our community," Ross said in a statement.

"The Miami Open belongs in Miami," IMG co-president Mark Shapiro said.

A 2015 appeals court decision preventing upgrades to the Key Biscayne complex had left the event's future in question. There had been speculation that the tournament might leave South Florida, with potential sites ranging from South America to China.

"The Miami Open has been a part of Miami's culture for as long as I can remember," eight-time Key Biscayne champion Serena Williams said in a statement. "I am thrilled the Miami Open is staying in Miami where it belongs."

Williams and her sister Venus own small stakes in the Dolphins.

The tournament starts March 19 on Key Biscayne for the 32nd and final time.

So they play in a parking lot next to the stadium? Did target and the super walmart turn them down?

I think it'll be nice. While a draw back in terms of experience for the people who travel to go see and play in the tournament, I think the facilities will be nice and the event will be a lot better for viewership on tv.

It sounds just horrible. I'll have to fly in and check it out.

Slightly D1 said:

...While a draw back in terms of experience for the people who travel to go see and play in the tournament,...

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Counting myself, I've never met anyone that watches tennis on TV. It's too boring.

Who cares where they play in you watch on TV ? Except the lighting I guess. I dislike intensely the O2 look like they're playing in a cave. I also can't stand when they put the camera up on the space station and you have the looking down from the sky thing. Or so I'm told. Not that I've ever seen tennis on TV.