Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is rolling in gate receipts from attendance of sporting events at Hard Rock Stadium. It’s just not the ones you’d think of.
Ross has been the owner of the Dolphins since 2009 and has overseen a renovation of South Florida’s largest stadium.
But despite its use for football, Ross says another major event held at the venue draws more people than the entire NFL season combined.
‘F1 has been great,’ Ross said on CNBC. ‘We get more attendance for F1 races for three days than the entire [Dolphins] season tickets that we sold.’
The Miami Grand Prix has become one of the most exclusive sporting events in the United States since it was first run in 2022.
The race, which is run around the stadium itself, has been very successful and has helped to grow the sport in the US.
Stephen Ross says the annual F1 race in Miami sells more tickets than Dolphins season tickets
The Miami Grand Prix has become a highly exclusive event since its inception in 2022
Last season, under Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins missed the playoffs once again
However, when it comes to television, F1 still has a ways to go to surpass the NFL.
Last season, ESPN averaged 1.3million viewers per F1 race – with a majority of them put on their ESPN+ streaming service.
Since last season, the rights to F1 have been moved to Apple TV – with executives claiming they’ve already surpassed some ESPN numbers without providing concrete facts.
Meanwhile, the NFL is one of the most watched sports on the planet and rakes in millions of dollars per season through broadcasts and advertising.
That said, it might not be surprising that the Dolphins aren’t selling as well as a single F1 grand prix weekend.
Miami has struggled the past few seasons and this year is set to be a continuation of that after trading away star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and moving on from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Last season, Miami went 7-10 and missed the playoffs for the second straight season.
