Joe Robbie

Lore & Background

Joe Robbie was raised in Sisseton, South Dakota, the second of five children. His father was a Lebanese immigrant and restaurant manager, and his mother was a baker and the daughter of Irish immigrants. At 14, he worked as a sportswriter for his local newspaper, and during the Great Depression he dropped out of high school to work as a lumberjack for the Civilian Conservation Corps, sending most of his earnings home. He later completed high school, attended Northern State Teachers College on a debating scholarship, and transferred to the University of South Dakota, where he met his future wife, Elizabeth. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Robbie enlisted in the Navy, saw substantial action in the Pacific theater, and was awarded a Bronze Star. He used the G.I. Bill to study law at the University of South Dakota School of Law.

After law school, Robbie worked as a deputy state's attorney and a professor of economics at Dakota Wesleyan University. In 1948 he was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives as a Democrat, and in 1950 he ran for governor but lost. He then moved to Minneapolis at the encouragement of Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey, where he operated his own law firm, served as regional counsel for the Office of Price Stabilization, and was a charter member of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Commission. He also worked as a lobbyist for the tobacco industry from the 1960s until his death, appearing before the U.S. Senate in 1963 to oppose a bill regulating tobacco advertising, and headed the Minnesota Candy & Tobacco Distributors Association from 1971 to 1989.

Robbie became a season ticket holder for the Minnesota Vikings and in 1965 met with AFL Commissioner Joe Foss, who suggested Miami as a site for an expansion franchise. Robbie partnered with comedian Danny Thomas and raised $7.5 million to purchase the team that became the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins' stadium, originally called Joe Robbie Stadium, opened in 1987. Robbie also owned the Miami Toros and Fort Lauderdale Strikers soccer teams, and Joe Robbie Stadium was designed with soccer in mind and engineered for baseball reconfiguration. He predicted Miami would secure a Major League Baseball franchise, which happened two months after his death.

Reader's Guide

Joe Robbie's significance lies primarily in founding the Miami Dolphins, a franchise that became a cornerstone of professional football in South Florida. His stadium, Joe Robbie Stadium, was one of the first major U.S. venues designed for soccer and adaptable for baseball, reflecting his broader vision for Miami as a major sports market. That vision was validated when Miami was awarded a Major League Baseball franchise shortly after his death. Robbie's career also illustrates the intersection of politics, law, and sports ownership: he served as a state legislator, worked on Hubert Humphrey's campaigns, and lobbied for the tobacco industry for decades. His involvement in the North American Soccer League through the Miami Toros and Fort Lauderdale Strikers shows his commitment to growing soccer in the United States. Posthumously, he was the inaugural inductee into the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll, and he and his wife Elizabeth were inducted as Builders into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame. His legacy is tied to the Dolphins' enduring presence and the stadium that bore his name.

Did You Know?

• At age 14, Robbie worked as a sportswriter for his local newspaper, The People's Press.
• Robbie was awarded a Bronze Star for his service in the Pacific theater during World War II.
• He appeared as himself in the 1977 thriller Black Sunday, interviewed about security for Super Bowl X.