Miami-Dade’s tourism bureau gave a World Cup skybox to County Commission chairman

In late May, the chief executive of the tax-funded tourism bureau for Miami-Dade County wrote board members with mostly good news.

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After paying $2.5 million to be a World Cup sponsor, the bureau had a complimentary skybox available for its board of directors at all but one of the seven Hard Rock Stadium matches.

“Based on the capacity of the suite, we have the ability of hosting 10 individual Board Members in the suite at each of the 6 home matches,” David Whitaker, CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB), wrote in the May 29 email to the nearly five dozen hotel managers, corporate executives, hospitality-industry leaders and others who make up the volunteer board.

Left unsaid was who would be using the box for the match that wasn’t offered to board members — when Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo faced off against hometown favorite Colombia. Whitaker had already pledged the suite tickets for that coveted June 27 game to Anthony Rodriguez, chair of the Miami-Dade County Commission.

“We were asked by Chairman Rodriguez for tickets to one of the World Cup matches,” Whitaker told the Miami Herald earlier this month. “We had access to tickets as part of our overall sponsorship and sponsor benefits with the local organizing effort.”

The Herald reported Whitaker’s statement on July 17 in a story that first disclosed the GMCVB’s ticket gift to Rodriguez through the commissioner’s political action committee, A Bolder Florida. Rodriguez, who was reelected to his District 10 commission seat without opposition on June 9, has not commented on the tickets matter.

As the Herald reported, Rodriguez’s PAC disclosed the GMCVB’s ticket donation in a campaign-finance filing with the state that was posted online. The donation of 11 soccer-match tickets worth $3,500 each made the GMCVB the source of the largest contribution in 2026 to A Bolder Florida, which lists Rodriguez as its chairman.

While the $38,500 tickets donation was made public, details about the kind of World Cup seats Rodriguez received from the tax-funded tourism bureau have not been known until now.

The Herald obtained Whitaker’s May 29 email through a records request to James Kohnstamm, who is director of economic development for the administration of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and also a member of the GMCVB board.

Along with that public record, Whitaker shared information about the donation through statements to the Herald and through a letter he sent to A Bolder Florida documenting the gift.

“On June 26, 2026, we have provided Anthony Rodriguez eleven (11) tickets to the June 27th soccer match between Colombia and Portugal for a fundraising event,” Whitaker wrote to A Bolder Florida on June 26 in a letter released to the Herald after the original story was published. “We calculate the fair market value of goods and services provided is $38,500. Please be sure to include this information on the Campaign’s next filing with the Department of Elections.”

A PAC fundraiser at World Cup, using tourism bureau tickets

Political committees often secure free tickets to concerts and sporting events through donors, then use them to hold fundraisers where donors pay more than a ticket’s face value to attend as a way to raise money for a PAC.

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A Bolder Florida’s disclosures only show two donations after the match — $25,000 from Humberto Ortiz, president of AUM Construction, a county vendor, and $25,000 from a political committee for the Southern Group, one of the top lobbying firms on county matters. Ortiz and Edgar Castro, founding partner of the Southern Group’s Miami office, did not respond to requests for comment.

While not part of A Bolder Florida’s campaign-finance disclosures, Whitaker released the June 26 letter after the Herald requested it. He also said the GMCVB gave two World Cup tickets to Miami-Dade Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who is a member of the GMCVB board.

Rodriguez is not on the GMCVB board, but the County Commission he heads has authority over the tourism bureau’s from county hotel taxes.

The bureau relies on county funding to operate. Its latest county disclosure covering finances through May showed Miami-Dade tax dollars accounting for about 80% of the $35 million that the GMCVB spent so far in 2026 on travel advertising, convention sales staff and other activities related to tourism promotion.

Miami-Dade’s grant agreement with the local World Cup Host Committee also shows the GMCVB contributing $2.5 million to be a local sponsor of the event.

In a statement to the Herald, Whitaker said the sponsorship came with a suite with 12 seats for each of the seven matches played at Hard Rock Stadium. Whitaker confirmed that by the time his May 29 email went out to board members, he had already agreed to Rodriguez’s request for World Cup tickets.

That May 29 email described a lottery system for GMCVB board members, who would have the chance to receive a ticket in a draw that was expected to be popular for World Cup matches attracting soccer fans from around the world.

“All who reply and say yes, will have their name entered into a blind drawing where then 10 Board Member names will be drawn for the first match, 10 names for the second match and so on,” he wrote.

Even so, Whitaker said Thursday that only about two dozen board members asked for tickets. That let the GMCVB offer Hardemon and other interested board members two tickets for matches, plus give away about 15 skybox tickets to tourism professionals like meeting planners and wholesale travel agents that the bureau courts to help fill hotels.

In his May 29 email, Whitaker noted that some board members may not be able to participate in a ticket giveaway.

“I respect and will defer to any elected or public official of our Board (or Board Member otherwise) who may have a policy in place not to accept gifts of this nature and decide not to participate,” he wrote.

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