The home of the Miami Dolphins will no longer be called Sun Life Stadium when its current naming rights deal expires in early 2015.
The Miami Herald reported Tuesday night that Sun Life Financial will not renew its naming rights contract with the Miami Dolphins, due to the company's decision to shutter two of its U.S. operations at the end of 2011.
The Dolphins have not publicly commented on the report.
Sun Life signed a five-year deal with the Miami Dolphins in 2010. Sun Life Stadium is the seventh name the stadium has had since it opened in 1987. Known as Joe Robbie stadium until 1996, after the late owner of the Dolphins, it has also gone by Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, and Land Shark Stadium.
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Sun Life Financial announced last week that it will shutter its variable annuities and life insurance businesses in the U.S. effective December 30, citing the desire to improve shareholder returns and lower volatility.
This will not be the first time economic factors have led to a name change at the Dolphins' home. Pro Player's naming rights contract came to a premature end in 2001 following Pro Player Apparel's bankruptcy filing in 1999.
For those of you keeping score at home, this means that since Dan Marino retired after the 1999 season, the Dolphins' stadium has undergone four (soon to be five) name changes, or roughly a third of the number of quarterbacks that have started for the Dolphins over the same period.
