After the Dolphins struck out in their request for direct public financing for upgrades to Sun Life Stadium, the team proposed a deal where they would pay for renovations themselves while being freed from making annual property tax payments.
Douglas Hanks of the Miami Herald reported Tuesday morning that the team has abandoned that plan and Hanks’ colleague Armando Salguero confirmed the report with the Dolphins later in the day. The team is now pushing for an agreement that would see them pay for the renovations while Miami-Dade pays them for every major event the stadium brings to town. Those events could include collegiate football bowl and championship games, major soccer matches and, of course, the Super Bowl.
The amount of money that the Dolphins would receive is unclear, although the money would be paid after the event takes place.
The NFL has made it clear that the Super Bowl will not return to Miami unless there are improvements made to Sun Life Stadium and the Herald reports that the Dolphins will outline their new plan to the rest of the league’s owners at Tuesday’s meeting to decide the site of Super Bowl LII in 2018.