Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, site of Super Bowl LIV between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Some may remember the soggy mess of Miami's 2010 Super Bowl: Heavy rains soaked fans packed into roofless Hard Rock Stadium and wreaked havoc on the carefully laid out logistical plans of the National Football League and the two competing teams, the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts.

What followed was a 10-year drought in Super Bowl hosting, tied for the longest span in Miami's history. The coveted region had already hosted nine of the blockbuster events (it also rained when Miami hosted the Super Bowl in 2007, where the late Prince sang Purple Rain during the halftime show.)

After the wet disaster of 2010, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and the stadium's ownership group began lobbying state and local governments almost immediately in an attempt to secure public financing for a roof. Ownership found themselves stonewalled at every turn as the specter of the Miami Marlins stadium, and the hundreds of millions of public funding secured to build it, overshadowed the effort.

Progress began in earnest only after the team ownership called Bilzin Sumberg managing partner Al Dotson, then the head of the firm's land use and government relations team, in 2011. Dotson immediately moved to classify the stadium as an "asset of regional import," which averted the need to secure state approval.

Dotson and the firm then pulled together lawyers from its corporate financing, real estate, land use, and tax group to create a unique financing system wherein the Dolphins and the stadium ownership would invest $500 million into a new roof and other improvements, and in return, Miami-Dade County would reward ownership with monetary rewards for bringing in big-name events like the Super Bowl.

"We had several meetings with Miami-Dade County leadership to work through an arrangement that we were quite frankly creating from whole cloth while recognizing the tax benefits that would come as a result of the Super Bowl and other events," said Dotson, who also serves on Miami's 2020 Super Bowl committee.

Bringing the Super Bowl to Miami triggers $4 million in incentive money from Miami-Dade, paid out of the county's hotel taxes. A World Cup Final or College Football Championship game would trigger a $3 million payout. A college football playoff game — such as the semi-final duel between Alabama and Oklahoma in December of 2018 — pays out $2 million.

Annual incentives are currently capped at $5.75 million, although that figure can be raised if approved by the county commission. So far, the Dolphins have requested just short of $6 million in payouts since the deal went into effect in 2016, and payments do not have to be doled out until 2024.

The deal also includes smaller tidbits, such as a clause that required the team ownership to employ a certain percentage of Miami Gardens and Miami-Dade small businesses for the renovation, a demand that ownership exceeded, according to Dotson.

For Dotson, the beauty of the deal is that it addresses the concerns of all stakeholders as a collaborative solution that incorporates the public, government and private ownership. He adds that the renovation was key to keeping the Miami Open in Miami in 2016, and the stadium will be a boon to the city's chances of landing a 2026 World Cup game, which is being hosted by the United States.

When asked if he's personally proud of the achievement, Dotson was characteristically demure:

"I'm proud that our community can benefit from this event and future marquee events," he said.

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