Miami Open Could Leave Key Biscane

For months now, the Miami Open has been threatening to leave its home in Key Biscayne’s Crandon Park, and a Third District Court of Appeal decision on Wednesday may have pushed the tournament directors past the point of no return.

The tournament and Miami-Dade County have an eight-year commitment, but the tournament says that the agreement should be voided because the County has not updated the tournament’s home.

Crandon Park is owned by Miami-Dade County, and has growth restrictions on it, while the Miami Open wants to build on the current park, creating the tension between the two sides.

“At some point, it’s going to be gone. The only question is when,” said Eugene Stearns, the lawyer for the Miami Open. “I can’t predict whether the tournament is going to want to stick it out for the next eight years. They’ll certainly have to consider their options. Under the circumstances, this has become a hostile environment to conduct business.”

Richard Ovelmen, lawyer for Bruce Matheson, a descendent of the family who owned the land and donated it to the county with restrictions back in 1940, explained the county’s point of view.

“They already have one stadium,” said Ovelmen. “They could ask the Amendment Committee [who has to approve any changes to the park] to make improvements to it. But what they can’t do is add a bunch of stadiums or permanent structures.”

The court’s decision to deny the appeal of the tournament may have signaled the end of the tournament’s time in Key Biscane. The two-week long tournament draws about 300,000 attendees, and is one of the top tournaments on the ATP and WTA Tours.

There are rumors that the tournament could be moved to the new facility built in Orlando, and cities such as Dubai and Beijing would welcome the event, according to tournament chief Adam Barrett.

Matheson, who sits on the committee that approves any and all changes to Crandon Park, said the city, county and park would do just fine financially without the tournament.

“The economic destiny of Miami-Dade County and Crandon Park does not depend on a two-week tennis tournament.”