The Miami tournament could go elsewhere if delays to its planned $50 million refurbishment of the Crandon Park site continue, according to the tournament director.
The event, which was bought by IMG in 2010, obtained approval for its plans in a local election in 2012.
Changes would include improving the stadium and building permanent outer-court seating, as well as making the tournament responsible for the running of the site. Though the facilities would remain open for public use during the rest of the year, there has been opposition from local players over the removal of the site's clay courts.
A lawsuit brought by one of the residents was dismissed this year, but the issue has not been settled.
"We want to stay in South Florida but we don’t want to run a second-class or third-tier event,” tournament director Adam Barrett said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “The option of going to the highest bidder—such as China, the Middle East or India, where money is growing on trees—is always an appealing option to a corporation."
The improved facilities at other Masters events have increasingly hurt perceptions of Miami's largely unchanged site. There is a new second stadium and expanded dining at Indian Wells, which had attendance of 420,000 this year compared to a 308,000 at Miami last year, and Madrid and Shanghai have built impressive architectural infrastructure.
Former owner Butch Buchholz, who established the tournament, described its current location in Miami as an advantage. "But the tournament desperately needs an upgrade,” he said. “It’s not winning the comparison game.”