80 Business View Magazine - July 2016
The Miami Beach
Convention Center
At the center of excitement, culture, and history
When Muhammad Ali died, recently, one of the pho-
tographs of him that was reprinted in newspapers
around the globe was that of the newly-crowned
heavyweight champion of the world standing over his
vanquished foe, Sonny Liston, whose prone body lay
defeated on the canvas floor of the boxing ring. That
iconic picture was taken in 1964 at the Miami Beach
Convention Center (MBCC) and according to Matt Hol-
lander, the Center’s current General Manager, it’s a
proud part of the history of the facility, originally built
in 1957, as a way to attract some major events to an
area, which was, at the time, considered to be merely
a quiet beach destination for vacationers.
As Miami and Miami Beach both continued to grow
in size and stature, the Center grew along with them.
In 1968, the MBCC hosted the Republican National
Convention and its more than 20,000 delegates and
in 1972 it hosted more than 45,000 delegates at
both the Republican and Democratic National Con-
ventions. “And since 2002, we’ve been home to Art
Basel Miami,” says Hollander, “a major international
