Dolphins reiterate stadium will be ready for start of season despite Hank Goldberg report

The Miami Dolphins have never wavered from saying the renovations to the stadium will be ready by the time the team plays their first home preseason game of the year. They received a little extra time when the NFL asked the team to move their Preseason Week 3 contest to Orlando as part of the league moving the Pro Bowl to Central Florida this year. The move makes Miami’s first home preseason contest not until the September 1 Preseason Week 4 contests.

This week, a report from Hank Goldberg differed from the team’s repeated statements that the stadium would be ready. According to Goldberg, the stadium will not be ready until November. Goldberg’s report indicates that the Dolphins will not be able to play their regular season home opener on September 25 at the stadium, and that the team is looking to move the Preseason Week 4 game as well. He also states that the University of Miami, which uses the stadium, will move their home opener against FAU to FAU and that the October 8 game against Florida State could be moved to Orlando.

He adds that the Dolphins could be in a situation similar to the New Orleans Saints after Hurricane Katrina, when they did not have a real home stadium.

The Dolphins immediately responded, releasing a statement today from Bill Senn, the Senior Vice President for the stadium renovations:

"The reports that the stadium won't be ready for football until November are incorrect. Getting a project of this scale done in this timeframe is unprecedented and the contractor is working diligently on a 24/7 basis to complete the canopy structure. While we will still be doing some “non-football critical” elements and final touches into the season similar to Phase 1 last year, at this point in the process we still expect to be ready to play football September 1."

Again, the Dolphins have never wavered from the plan to have the stadium ready for the preseason. Fans and media seem to doubt that they will have it done, but the team continually puts out definitive statements that it will be ready.