For hundreds of millions of soccer fans from across the world, seven FIFA World Cup games will be held in Miami — a name that invokes images of beaches, night clubs and Latin culture.
But locals know the truth: the matches aren't really in Miami proper, they're in Miami Gardens — a predominantly Black community with its own important history far removed from Biscayne Bay.
The confluence of global competitive sports around what is now the Hard Rock Stadium over the past few decades has turned the city from a once-sleepy Miami suburb to a tourism powerhouse on the world stage that's trying to increase its brand recognition.
"Even though they may say that they're in Miami, they've gotten better at saying they're in Miami Gardens," said Miami Gardens Mayor Rodney Harris.
In fact, the contentious arrival of the venue was one of the catalysts in turning a neighborhood into a city that's expanding to this day.
Miami Gardens is a relatively young municipality in Miami-Dade County, incorporated only in 2003. Before then, the area was mostly farmland and suburbia known to locals as “Carol City,” though it was an unincorporated neighborhood controlled by the county. Such renowned cultural icons like rappers Flo Rida and Rick Ross call the neighborhood their home.
The community came together and chartered the city after years of feeling underrepresented — an issue typified by the construction of a football stadium despite outcry from residents.
In 1985, residents got wind that then-Dolphins football team owner Joe Robbie wanted to build a stadium in their backyard because the area was largely underdeveloped. The locals were not formally informed or even asked if they wanted to have the stadium so near to their homes — and they felt they were ignored because it was a predominantly Black communities.
The stadium would ultimately be built in 1987 as "Joe Robbie Stadium," home to the Miami Dolphins, setting off years of activism and calls for self-determination from Carol City residents.
Miami Gardens would go on to become one of Florida’s largest majority-Black cities, with a city council made up entirely of Black elected officials.
The city’s founding mayor was Shirley Gibson, a Black woman and local activist who helped to push for incorporation. She died in 2023 at age 79.
Gale Nelson, elder and minister of Miami Gardens Church of Christ, told WLRN he knew city founder Gibson before her passing and sees the events of today as a continuation of her legacy.
“ Seeing where we are now, is seeing her vision come to reality,” Nelson said.
Nelson also serves as president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami, an organization that serves to mentor children and teens and help them develop skills for future employment. Nelson says the stadium and events like the World Cup offer a chance for the youth of Miami Gardens to capitalize on the buzz.
“There's a lot more opportunity now through corporate development. The sporting events are one thing as well, but getting these kids exposed to the business side of the city will be a great opportunity for us,” Nelson told WLRN.
Business development
In the shadow of the imposing Hard Rock Stadium on an April afternoon, Ruthie Bodie sits at her laptop in the business she co-owns with her husband, Lorna’s Caribbean and American Grill.
There’s no international race or major sporting event going on at the moment, so business is at a slow enough pace for her to get some work in.
"A lot of events bring the crowd over here. So whatever is going on at that stadium, we are going to get slammed,” Bodie told WLRN.
Bodie and her husband opened the restaurant at this location in Miami Gardens in 2019. In the seven years since, the city has hosted a Super Bowl, multiple Formula 1 races and Miami Open tennis tournaments — and soon, seven soccer matches in the FIFA World Cup.
READ MORE: Will the World Cup bring its promised big payoff for South Florida?
For business owners like Bodie, this means a major increase of foot traffic and revenue. But she says the influx of sports tourism hasn’t killed the community’s identity among its native residents.
“ A lot of people, the originals, they still like to identify it as ‘Carol City’. They’re very proud of where they're from. As a matter of fact, you got some people coming back and wanna rebuild the community,” Bodie said.
Mayor Harris, only the third in the young city’s history, sees himself as the one to follow through on the dreams Gibson laid out and ex-Mayor Oliver Gilbert got started.
“ My job, in my opinion, was to ensure that we cultivated those possibilities and made this a reality,” Harris told WLRN in an interview. “Miami Gardens is just a thriving place right now. Businesses are coming here and a lot of residents want to come here.”
The stadium is now a point of pride and opportunity — increased traffic congestion on game days notwithstanding — Harris asserts.
“The Hard Rock stadium has been a great business partner with us, as well as a great taxpayer for us,” he said.
For many years, when Dolphins games and other large sporting events were held at Hard Rock Stadium, advertisers and often broadcasters would simply say the event was in "Miami."
And through a campaign from within Miami Gardens city hall, Harris said more people are recognizing the true name of the stadium's home, after many years of advertisers and broadcasters describing sports events there as taking place in "Miami."
"It gives us an opportunity to have really free press and really to have an opportunity to sell ourselves," he said.
At this summer's World Cup, the seven matches at Hard Rock Stadium are predicted to generate more than $650 million in direct economic activity. That will come primarily through hotel stays, restaurants and retail spending, according to Oxford Economic’s Tourism Economics Event Impact Calculator.
At least some of that revenue is expected to come through Miami Gardens’ restaurants and local businesses. Mayor Harris said the city is working to approve new hotels in Miami Gardens to capture more of that tourism revenue for future events.
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