We all have known for a while that Dolphins' majority owner Wayne Huizenga planned on selling, at some point, the remaining percentage of the team to partner and soon-to-be owner Stephen Ross. Apparently, this move could be closer than we all thought.
There are reports that Huizenga may actually sell off 90% of his remaining stake in the team - leaving Wayne with 5% of the team and making Ross the majority owner. Why so soon? Huizenga says it's because of the potential tax increase proposed by presidential nominee Barack Obama. And because NFL owners approved the potential sale of the team to Ross, the transaction can happen at any time. Should Obama win next week's presidential election, Huizenga could very well sell off all but a 5% stake in the team prior to January's swearing in of a new president. Says Huizenga:
"[Obama] wants to double the capital gains tax, or almost double it."
"If you do it this year or you do it next year, the difference is humongous because of the taxes."
The Obama campaign fired back, saying the tax increase would only be 33%. Regardless, though, I think that it's a shame any time politics influence any kind of sports decision.
Regardless, we all knew it would happen at some point over the next couple of years. And there really shouldn't be too much of an issue in terms of football operations. I highly doubt Stephen Ross would try to influence the decisions being made by Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland, or any other personnel decision makers.
It would just be a sad ending to a 19+ year relationship.