How much does half of 1 win cost?

Posted on February 25th, 2008. Written by Emmett Jones.

…$550 million dollars. At least, that’s how much real-estate developer/billionaire Stephen Ross is willing to pay for it. Current Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga decided to sell half of his stake in the Dolphins, who finished 1-15 last year, to Ross on Monday. Even though it is a 50-50 split, Huizenga will remain the general managing partner. More details over at the Sun-Sentinel,

Huizenga will remain the managing general partner for now, but he’s clearly moving toward relinquishing ownership of the football team. Ross is paying $550 million, less any debt, and is positioned to buy controlling interest…The deal includes the team, Dolphin Stadium and surrounding land, all valued at $1.1 billion, Huizenga said.

The sale still needs to be approved by 24 of the 32 owners who are set to meet at the end of March. Apparently there may be some re-working of the deal, as the NFL has been leery of approving situations with 50-50 ownership because they prefer a situation where there is a clear decision maker.

This whole situation is at least a little surprising, as most people believed that any sale of the Dolphins was unlikely after Huizenga brought in Bill Parcells to head football operations. But, it obviously goes to show that nothing is set in stone, especially not for the man (Huizenga) who is known for bringing in big names to help revitalize his team (remember Dan Marino’s 22 day stint as Senior VP of football operations?).

So, what does this move actually mean for the Dolphins? Nothing at the moment. It seems as though Huizenga has relinquished 50% control of the Dolphins because he’s getting older (he’s 70) and he may be losing some of the business acumen that he possessed previously. On the other hand, Parcells had requested that Huizenga stay in charge of the team during the duration of his contract, so Huizenga couldn’t sell the team outright to Ross, lest he upset the “Tuna”. So we’re left with Huizenga acting seemingly as an equal partner, when he is in fact probably just staying on as a figurehead. Ross has already said that he will be deferring to Huizenga and Parcells on any situations that arise, and Huizenga had already give up the reins to Parcells, so basically the Dolphins are in the same boat they were in before this deal occurred.

With the situation in Miami remaining the same, for all intents and purposes, the only thing I want to see is if there are any changes in team ownership if Parcells is able to bring the Dolphins back to respectability?

Leave your thoughts about Huizenga’s move in the comments.

ESPN: Parcells signs four-year deal to head Dolphins’ football operations

Sun-Sentinel: H. Wayne Huizenga selling half of Dolphins to developer

1 Responses »

1. 

   sportsattitude

   February 25, 2008 • 6:03 pm

   I read a quote from Huizenga where he said the people working at Dolphins HQ did not need “an old man in charge limping around the halls” there, or something to that effect. Hey, Wayne…walk down the hall and introduce yourself to Bill Parcells. I would put Big Bill in the category of old and limping. As much as I would love to see a strong Dolphin franchise again, I don’t think the way to get there is via Parcells. Remember when Dan Marino was hired for a day or so? Man, the waves have been drowning the beach for this team for quite awhile now.

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