Why Dolphins owner is knowingly sacrificing chance to host Super Bowls

The Miami Dolphins have played their home games in two stadiums since the team was founded in 1965. From 1966-86, they called the Miami Orange Bowl home, and for the last 40 years, they've played at Hard Rock Stadium.

Over the 60+ years, the Dolphins home stadiums have hosted 11 Super Bowls (five at the Orange Bowl and six at Hard Rock Stadium), with the most recent coming in 2020.

While they were a staple in the league's rotation, they've fallen out of the mix, and Dolphins owners Stephen Ross recently explained that the reason is because Hard Rock Stadium doesn't have sufficient room for the hospitality around the stadium following the construction of the Formula One racetrack and the tennis courts for the Miami Open.

“The one thing that suffered is Miami hasn’t gotten a Super Bowl here, and we normally have one every five years,” Ross said last week (via The Miami Herald). “Miami is not really in line for one. It’s always exciting to have the Super Bowl but that was before we had all the other events. Miami has by far the best weather. It’s in their best interest to have one here but at this point they don’t believe we meet all the requirements and the demands.”

After this past Super Bowl was played in Las Vegas, the game will return to Los Angeles in 2027, Atlanta in 2028 and back to Las Vegas in 2029. However, Ross still believes that a team will host a Lombardi Trophy inside their stadium again.

“We are looking at how to make improvements,” Ross said. “I want to make the stadium always feel like a new stadium, we are looking at what the next phase will be and making the fan experience that much better.”