MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP/WSVN) — The Miami Dolphins will move their training complex eight miles south to a site next to their stadium in Miami Gardens.
The Dolphins’ training headquarters have been at Nova Southeastern University in Broward County since 1993. The team will build a larger complex expected to cost up to $75 million and projected to open before the start of the 2020 season.
“It’s been a moving target for a few years,” said Miami Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel. “It wasn’t necessarily a priority a few years ago. I think it came more to a head over the last year or so, something we’ve discussed more seriously, and now that the stadium’s closer to being sort of completed, it’s like, ‘What’s the next step in the evolution of the organization?'”
The site decision announced Tuesday came after the Miami-Dade County Commission recently voted to subsidize the move. The Dolphins were also considering a site in Miramar, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale in Broward.
Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert said he’s happy with the news.
“One community, one goal, one Miami Dolphins team, headquarters, playing their games, practicing right here in Miami Gardens,” said Gilbert, “and what it does is also, listen, we have tennis coming, we have concerts coming but football operations here, it brings people into the city year-round.”
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez said the training facility also serves as a way to attract future sporting events to South Florida.
“This facility, when built, will now help us also land our World Cup games here in 2026,” he said. “Hopefully, a semi-final because they’re going to have world-class training facilities right here next to the stadium.”
Upgrades elsewhere for the organization are also in the works. The Dolphins plan to build pedestrian bridges from the parking lots to the stadium, along with upgrades to their locker rooms and in-stadium dining menus.
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