Dolphins ‘Unequivocally’ Not for Sale by Stephen Ross Amid $10B Bid Rumors, Exec Says

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVMay 6, 2024

Megan Briggs/Getty Images

Miami Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel made it clear that Stephen Ross has no intention of selling his stake in the franchise.

“What I can say is that I know unequivocally that the team is not for sale,” Garfinkel said to Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post.

This comes after USA Today’s Safid Deen reported Ross “recently entertained” a $10 billion bid for the Dolphins in addition to Hard Rock Stadium and the right to stage Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix.

Per Habib, Ross looked into what he might get from selling a minority stake in the Dolphins. Garfinkel was adamant that didn’t signal a willingness for the owner to divest himself from the franchise entirely.

“I think the price could be much higher than $10 billion, the team wouldn’t sell,” he said. “So the team is not for sale, the control of the team’s not for sale. And so from that standpoint, I think all of that is kind of not really relevant because Steve’s not selling the team.

The Dolphins were valued at $5.7 billion when Forbes published its annual list last August and a hypothetical sale would probably send the actual price beyond that.

The Washington Commanders, for example, were given a $5.6 billion valuation in 2022 and wound up selling for $6.05 billion. And that was at a time when the Commanders’ general image had never been worse thanks to their on-field futility and scandals within the organization.

The cost of entry into NFL ownership is only going to go up given the financial health of the league and the return its increased emphasis on international markets might yield down the line.

Then you throw in the additional revenue Ross receives from the Miami Grand Prix and holding other major events at Hard Rock Stadium.

Unless the 83-year-old simply wanted to cash out now, there’s no reason for him to sell his sporting assets when they’re becoming more and more lucrative.