By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, October 6, 2017
"I do think it’s imminent,” Key Biscayne Mayor Mayra Peña Lindsay told the Miami Herald of the Miami Open moving.
Photo credit: Miami Open Facebook
The Miami Open baseline may be moving near the Miami Dolphins goal line.
The tournament is considering a deal to leave its longtime home on Key Biscayne and relocate to the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, according to a Miami Herald report.
More: Agassi Voices Vegas Strength
“I do think it’s imminent,” Key Biscayne Mayor Mayra Peña Lindsay told the Miami Herald. “But it hasn’t been officially made.”
If a deal is finalized, the tournament would remain on Key Biscayne in 2018 before moving to Miami Gardens in 2019.
However, negotiations are ongoing and Miami-Dade County has not received a formal request to release the tournament from the six years left on its lease at Crandon Park, according to the Miami Herald.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is proposing partnering tournament-owner IMG to move the Masters event to a new tennis complex built next to the Dolphins Hard Rock Stadium home.
A portable stadium court constructed inside the Hard Rock would be complemented by a permanent Grandstand court and permanent match and practice courts outside Hard Rock Stadium.
Once widely regarded as a jewel of Masters tournaments, Miami’s facilities have been outclassed by the BNP Paribas Open as billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has invested millions of dollars upgrading Indian Wells, which many players regard as the unofficial fifth Grand Slam.
Miami Open organizers proposed a $50 million renovation, funded by IMG, that would expand the current stadium and build two new additional stadiums at the public park on Key Biscayne.
The tournament lost an appeals court decision in December of 2015 denying its challenge to expand its current home at Crandon Park.
Last spring, Mark Shapiro, president of tournament owner IMG, shot down growing speculation the tournament could relocate to the USTA’s National Campus in Lake Nona, Florida, telling The Miami Herald “We’re committed to staying in Miami.”
“The bottom line is, there are other suitors,’’ Shapiro said in March. “Ever since we lost the court case and rumors have been swirling about our intentions, we’ve had cities across the country and outside the U.S. borders that are interested in bringing such a glorious event to their shores.
"However, we’re not open for business. We’re committed to staying in Miami, our players love all that surrounds the tennis, from the culture to the beach to the music — just the overall flair. We want them to remain happy.”
There has been speculation talks of a move to Miami Gardens may be an effort to leverage rennovations to Crandon Park.
The Matheson family donated the land for Crandon Park to Miami Dade County in 1940 and still retains approval rights over building projects on the public park.
One member of the family, Bruce Matheson, took the tournament to court to halt planned construction of a second stadium on the site and prevent proposed upgrades to the site.
Roger Federer, who defeated Rafael Nadal to win the 2017 Miami Open championship, has been playing on Key Biscayne since he won the 1998 Orange Bowl at Crandon Park.
Federer, a former IMG client, has mixed emotions about a proposed move from Key Biscayne.
“I mean, it depends on the importance of the growth of the site,” Federer said. “I know they can't grow, so traffic is rough. It's not getting easier. I don't think they can improve much in terms of capacity.
“So the question is, is everybody happy this way or not? If you want to go bigger, clearly you have to move. But is the grass always greener on the other side? I'm not sure. It's a hard one. I know this tournament from a long time ago here. I even played the juniors back here on this very court back in '98.
“So look, in a way you wish it goes on here. I think at this point everybody also understands if it were to move.”
Life-long Florida resident Chrissie Evert told Tennis Now she would be disappointed if the Miami Open leaves Key Biscayne.
"I mean, Key Biscayne, it's just like paradise, I think, for the players," Evert said. "But when I do hear mumblings and rumblings a bit about the venue it's from the spectators...
"Getting there and the parking, it is a hassle. It isn't Indian Wells... it still has a lot of heart and a lot of history and it has a lot of fans. So I for one, am really disappointed if it would move or when it moves. I'm going to be sad about it."
This sunset though
A post shared by 🎾 Miami Open 🎾 (@miamiopen) on
A year ago, eight-time Miami Open champion Serena Williams made a strong case for keeping the tournament at its current Key Biscayne home in an Op-Ed piece she wrote for The New York Times titled "Why Tennis Needs the Miami Open.”
Williams, a long-time Palm Beach Gardens, Florida resident, called the tournament one of the world's "most special sporting events" and praised Crandon Park as a public park treasure. The Williams sisters own a minority share of the Miami Dolphins.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion touted the tournament as a pioneer for gender equality by featuring both men and women's events and paying equal prize money since its inception back in 1985 pointing out that when sister Venus successfully led the fight for equal prize money at Wimbledon in 2007, Miami had already met that vision of equality 22 years earlier.
"Leaving Miami would be a blow to our sport, to the city of Miami and to me," Serena said.