Update: Gloria and Emilio Estefan Get Minority Ownership in the Dolphins

Last month, Riptide received a vague but alarming email invitation with this headline: "JIMMY BUFFETT, MIAMI DOLPHINS AND DOLPHIN STADIUM TO HOST MAJOR CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENT."Riptide quickly RSVPed and was treated to one of the most disturbing displays in sports history: Jimmy Buffett playing to a crowd of Parrotheads and getting...

By Tim Elfrink

June 23, 2009

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Last month, Riptide received a vague but alarming email invitation with this headline: "JIMMY BUFFETT, MIAMI DOLPHINS AND DOLPHIN STADIUM TO HOST MAJOR CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENT."

Riptide quickly RSVPed and was treated to one of the most disturbing displays in sports history: Jimmy Buffett playing to a crowd of Parrotheads and getting the stadium named after his Corona-lite LandShark Lager in return.

So what to make of the invite we just received a few minutes ago?

Here's the headline: "GLORIA ESTEFAN, EMILIO ESTEFAN AND THE MIAMI DOLPHINS TO HOST MAJOR CORPORATE ANNOUNCEMENT."

Wha? Is the team going to be renamed the Miami Sound Machine Dolphins in exchange for a hot new music video? Are the Estefans going to force Buffett out of the local football biz in a hostile musical takeover? Will Joey Porter do that conga?

The "major announcement" is set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday at Corona-ripoff Stadium. Dolphins prez Stephen Ross will be there along with both the Estefans.

Dolphins spokesman Elliott Stares would only tell Riptide that "everything will be revealed on Thursday."

We'll be there, Elliott.

Update: The Herald reported this morning that the Estefans have purchased a minority stake in the Dolphins.

No word yet on what kind of Estefan-themed renaming this could mean for the franchise -- or whether Stephen Ross is actually getting cash out of this deal instead of just a dubious new theme song.

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Tim Elfrink is a former investigative reporter and managing editor for Miami New Times. He has won the George Polk Award and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting.

Contact: Tim Elfrink

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Twitter: @timelfrinkmia