National Football League

Dolphins no longer Miami's No. 1 team

Published Jun. 14, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Alex Marvez

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh fell short of an NBA championship, but the “Three Kings” did help the Miami Heat take one crown.

The Miami Dolphins are no longer the ruling franchise in South Florida sports.

Even when the Heat captured the 2005-06 NBA title and the Florida Marlins were winning World Series in 1997 and 2003, the Dolphins still sat atop the throne.

Even after the glory years under Don Shula and Dan Marino in the 1970s and 1980s were long gone, those memories and the hope of recapturing such magic always gave the Dolphins the largest share of the local spotlight.

Not anymore.

Although the Heat fell short of a title, just reaching the NBA Finals spurred impromptu street celebrations and a mania the Dolphins haven’t seen in decades. Television ratings dwarfed what the Dolphins usually draw even against archrivals like New England and the New York Jets. Season-ticket sales are down substantially for reasons that include the NFL lockout as well as a lack of optimism about the team’s chances in 2011.

South Florida has embraced the Heat and will pay the same kind of close attention to their offseason personnel moves that was once given to the Dolphins. When the NBA begins play again in early November (barring a work stoppage), it might be easy to forget that there is an NFL squad in the same town.

Unless the Dolphins can make fans care once again.

“One team’s success does not have to come at the expense of another team’s success,” Dolphins CEO Mike Dee told FOXSports.com on Tuesday. “We have to take care of what we can take care of. That’s putting a quality product on the field, marketing aggressively and making Sun Life Stadium a desirable place to come.”

That may be a bigger challenge than the one the Heat received from the Dallas Mavericks’ zone defense.

The Dolphins must overcome more obstacles than those faced by every other NFL team: selling tickets in a tough economic climate as well as technological advances that are keeping more fans at home watching rather than coming to games. Not only is a sizeable Hispanic portion of the local population disinterested in the NFL, South Florida has the well-deserved reputation of being a front-running region that only supports winners.

On that front, the Dolphins failed miserably in 2010.

A 7-9 finish marked the 26th consecutive season that Miami hadn’t played in a Super Bowl. Some babies born during the last year that Miami reached an AFC title game (1992) are now having children of their own.

The lack of optimism surrounding the 2011 squad is especially disturbing. Even after the two worst seasons in the past decade (2004 and 2007), the Dolphins quickly turned the page by bringing in a high-profile figure to handle football operations.

But this offseason, there is no Nick Saban or Bill Parcells. The Dolphins are staying the course with head coach Tony Sparano after team owner Stephen Ross’ embarrassingly botched courtship of Jim Harbaugh, who instead headed to San Francisco. Parcells protégé Jeff Ireland returns as general manager after an uneven three seasons at the helm.

The lack of roster star power also hurts in a celebrity-crazed region.

This is especially true at quarterback. Unless the Dolphins make an unexpected move to acquire a big-name passer, Chad Henne will enter the season as Miami’s starter. That generates scant optimism among a fan base bracing for another failed Marino replacement like A.J. Feeley, Daunte Culpepper and John Beck.

The Heat have the Three Kings. The Dolphins might as well be marketing the Three Stooges despite having a stout young defense and the makings of an improved offense under new coordinator Brian Daboll.

“You can’t manufacture stars,” Dee said. “Stars are born because of what they’ve done on the field or court. Clearly, the Heat was able to add those pieces this past offseason. That’s a benefit in the way they’ve been able to market to the community. But I think we’ve got great young players. We’re the fifth-youngest team in the NFL. As this team matures under Jeff and Tony, I think we’ll have a turnaround and stars will emerge.

“Dan Marino wasn’t a star in his first seven or eight games in 1983. He had to play first and earn that right.”

The 2011 Dolphins find themselves needing to do the same for the hearts of South Florida’s sporting faithful that the Heat have stolen.

Alex Marvez is a South Florida native and resident. He also covered the Miami Dolphins as a beat writer from 1999 to 2007

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