Good thing Stephen Ross wasn't stuck on "I Kissed A Girl." Or humming "My Humps" all day long.
The South Florida Business Journal confirmed this morning what we've suspected all along here at Riptide: The Dolphins owner gave away the naming rights to Dolphin Stadium for absolutely nothing because he had an annoying Jimmy Buffett jingle stuck in his head.
In a lengthy post-mortem of the weirdest stadium naming deal in history -- in which the Fins' home was rechristened "Land Shark Stadium" after Buffett's lager in exchange for a new theme song -- Ross admitted he just couldn't get that tune out of his brain.
"It was always about 'fins to the left,' and 'fins to the right,'" Arlen Kantarian, a senior Ross advisor, tells the Journal. "As far back as November, Steve was talking ... about having that particular song."
Ross even turned down a $7.5 million naming rights deal with Metro PCS, according to the Journal, to take Buffett's much stronger offer of ... one song. And maybe one concert, if he feels like playing.
Modern sports fans are used to seeing their stadiums whored out to the highest bidder. But how's it feel, Fins Nation, knowing you've been sold for a song because your dopey owner couldn't stop singing it? May as well sing along: "Fins to the left ..."
