CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The University of Miami and Florida International University announced an athletics scheduling partnership Friday morning.
The football programs will meet Sept. 22, 2018 at Sun Life Stadium and November 2019 at a to-be-determined site. FIU athletic director Pete Garcia said both the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins have shown interest in hosting the second meeting.
"We're talking on all fronts," University of Miami athletic director Blake James said. "There has been maybe not a written rule, but both schools have avoided scheduling. "Scheduling is one of the most challenging situations we have in athletic programs meeting coach's expectations to meeting our budgetary and fan expectations and to getting dates to line up. The message I'm going to go to with all our coaches is I really encourage them to play Florida International University in all our programs. I'll be surprised if we don't see competition in all fronts with all our programs in the very near future."
Look to Oct. 14, 2006, as the primary reason for the long delay in the rivalry's renewal.
Miami and FIU played each other in football that day at the Orange Bowl when a fight broke out on the field -- and in the stands -- during the Hurricanes' 35-0 victory. Thirty-one players would be suspended. The following year's game was played without incident.
"I wasn't here in 2006, so I can't relate to the situation that occurred at the time," James said. "Obviously I was aware of it watching from afar. What I would say is I approached President (Donna E.) Shalala on this idea after Pete and I had the conversation, and both President Shalala and I felt it was the right time. The reason I touched on earlier it was the right thing to do. It was moving forward and moving ahead as an athletic program with our partners from cross town."
Added Shalala: "We want a cross-town rivalry. We want the excitement of a cross-town rivalry. We want our students coming up with creative cheers for this cross-town rivalry."
Factors that led to the decision to bring it back included the cost of collegiate athletics, missed time in the classroom and each institution's presence in South Florida.
According to Garcia, the home team will pay the away team $500,000 for the football game, so it will be a "wash."
"The benefit is all the travel and getting on a plane, hotel rooms, which is hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings where we can better utilize that our on our student-athletes for things that they might need," Garcia said.
Shalala and Florida International President Mark B. Rosenberg already collaborate on community healthcare initiatives at Jackson Memorial Hospital as well as the study of Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union.
Shalala called this the next step.
"We spent a lot of time selling Miami as a great college town and this is just another step in that direction," Shalala said. "I want the whole community to embrace the rivalry that we have in intercollegiate athletics and doing the right thing in our communities. We hope that the community and the fans of the alumni will attend the matchups. We expect to fill the stadiums with alums, our students and with members of the community that feel very strongly of supporting two great institutions in athletics is part of being a great citizen in our community."
Added Rosenberg: "We both know this is what the community wants. We're universities that are family-oriented and community-centered, and there's nothing better than to renew this incredible rivalry and incredible relationship in this way. Everywhere you look in this community you'll see evidence of the University of Miami and FIU. There's no reason why we shouldn't have this collaboration in this form."
Aside from the games between the two institutions, the universities will work together to bring more events to South Florida, such as an NCAA basketball regional.
Garcia expressed the hope for a baseball weekend at Marlins Park where the Hurricanes and Panthers would play the Marlins and vice versa like they did in 2012 before Opening Day. Those teams already travel to Jupiter, Fla., the Marlins' spring training site, for exhibitions in February.
"There's a lot of dialogue coming in, there's a lot of endless possibilities that we can do but at the end of the day it's all for our community," Garcia said. "We're going to lead the way in working together and hopefully everybody else will for the betterment of our community."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.
