Miami's home opener could be played away from home

Miami’s home opener may not be played at home.

According to the Miami Herald, scheduled upgrades to Sun Life Stadium are “running a few weeks behind schedule,” leading Hurricanes athletic director Blake James to look into some backup plans if the stadium is not ready for UM’s opener against Florida A&M on Sept. 3.

Miami could consider nearby FIU Stadium (capacity: 20,000) on Sept. 3 – two days after FIU opens its schedule at home against Indiana.

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Things could get a bit more complicated the following weekend if Sun Life is still not available. The Hurricanes are scheduled to host Florida Atlantic on Sept. 10. FIU hosts Maryland the night before, so FIU Stadium would likely be unavailable.

Another nearby stadium option is Marlins Park, home of MLB’s Miami Marlins. However, the Marlins host the Los Angeles Dodgers that night, so that would be off the table. That could potentially raise the possibility of just moving the game to FAU Stadium in nearby Boca Raton. In that instance, Miami would be in the awkward position of playing a “home” game against FAU at FAU’s stadium.

This is all hypothetical, of course. Sun Life Stadium is also home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. The franchise, per the Herald, expects the stadium to be good to go in time for its Aug. 25 preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons.

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If that does not come to fruition, the Dolphins have a “top-secret contingency plan.” Miami, to its credit, is doing its due diligence so it’s not left scrambling.

For more Miami news, visit CaneSport.com.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

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