Imagine being in a position to turn down $10 billion.
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross reportedly did just that. Ross was offered $10 billion for controlling interest in the Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium and Miami's Formula One race and said no thanks. The offer was reported by USA Today and confirmed by the Miami Herald.
While it's hard to determine just off that how much the NFL team itself would be worth in the sale, the record for a franchise sale is $6.05 billion. That for the Washington Commanders in 2023. This sale would have blown that away.
It shows that we still haven't hit the ceiling on professional sports teams valuations, and that F1 is sports' new cash cow.
Stephen Ross doesn't sell Dolphins
USA Today reported that Ross wants to keep the assets in the family, so he declined the offer. While that's hard to put a monetary value on, Ross is also a successful businessman and if he thought $10 billion was a ridiculous offer, maybe there would have been a sale.
But $10 billion might not have been enough for the team, stadium and race.
F1 has been booming. Las Vegas practically shut down the city for weeks and put the locals out with traffic issues to host a race last year, and the race had a estimated economic impact of $1.5 billion according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The area inside and outside of Hard Rock Stadium has been built up to host the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
F1 was a big part of that massive offer to Ross, but the NFL part of it is still growing too.
NFL team values increase
The sale of the Commanders skipped the $5 billion threshold for NFL teams. The record before the Commanders sale was $4.65 billion for the Denver Broncos in 2022. Then it jumped from that to more than $6 billion.
Considering the real estate in South Florida in which the stadium is on, the race component and the rising value of all sports franchises, it's not that outrageous for Ross to turn down an 11-figure deal. USA Today said Ross has already invested $1 billion into an overhaul of the stadium and to turn the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot into a race track.
If the trend continues, if and when Ross or his heirs ever want to sell the Dolphins it will be a multi-billion dollar sale. Ross just wasn't ready to sell, even at a humungous price.
