Dan Le Batard reflects on the legacy of H. Wayne Huizenga, the founding owner of the Florida Marlins and the Florida Panthers. (1:49)

H. Wayne Huizenga, the founding owner of the Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers and former owner of the Miami Dolphins, died Thursday night at his home. He was 80.

Valerie Hinkell, a longtime assistant to Huizenga, told The Associated Press of Huizenga's death when reached at the family residence Friday. She gave no details on cause of death.

Huizenga was a billionaire who created Fortune 500 companies such as Waste Management, Inc., Blockbuster Video and AutoNation. He owned the Dolphins, Marlins and Panthers simultaneously from 1994 to 1998, becoming the first person to own teams in three major sports leagues.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, on Opening Day for the Marlins, the team Huizenga founded 25 years ago.

His net worth in 2017 was reported to be $2.8 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.

Huizenga brought Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League to South Florida via expansion with the Marlins and Panthers, respectively. He paid $95 million for the Marlins in 1991 and $50 million for the Panthers in 1992. Both teams began play in 1993.

By 1996, the Panthers had reached the Stanley Cup Final. A year later, the Marlins won the World Series.

"Wayne Huizenga was an entrepreneurial visionary who possessed boundless energy, drive and imagination, a devotion to his community in South Florida and a passion for sports," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement Friday.

Today, we mourn the passing of the original Florida Marlin, Mr. H. Wayne Huizenga, who will be remembered as much for his contributions to South Florida professional sports as he was for his many charitable endeavors in the surrounding community. pic.twitter.com/HOVxXEAU5Q — Miami Marlins (@Marlins) March 23, 2018

We mourn the loss of a beloved member of the Dolphins family.



Your kindness and generosity can be felt throughout South Florida.



We will miss you Mr. H. pic.twitter.com/bWrNjbU17q — Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) March 23, 2018

"Wayne Huizenga was a seminal figure in the cultural history of South Florida," current Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said Friday. "He completely changed the landscape of the region's sports scene with his purchase of the Dolphins coupled with his pursuit of expansion teams in both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. Sports fans throughout the region owe him a debt of thanks for his stewardship of the Dolphins and for his vision and initiative to positively impacting our community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this difficult time."

After buying 15 percent of the Dolphins and 50 percent of the team's stadium from the family of team founder Joe Robbie in 1990, Huizenga became the sole owner of the team in 1994 for $168 million after persuading the NFL to waive its ban on cross-ownership of teams in other leagues.

Huizenga's first sports love was the Dolphins -- he was a season-ticket holder since their first season in 1966. He fared better in the NFL as a businessman than as a sports fan. The Dolphins made the playoff eight times under his ownership but never reached the Super Bowl.

He turned a profit by selling the Dolphins and their stadium in 2008 to Ross, a New York real estate magnate, for $1.1 billion, nearly seven times what Huizenga paid to become sole owner. But Huizenga knew that the bottom line in the NFL is championships.

"If I have one disappointment, the disappointment would be that we did not bring a championship home," Huizenga said shortly after he sold the Dolphins. "It's something we failed to do."

Huizenga earned a reputation as a hands-off owner and received praise from many loyal employees, even though he made six coaching changes. He eased Pro Football Hall of Famer Don Shula into retirement in early 1996, and Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wannstedt, interim coach Jim Bates, Nick Saban, Cam Cameron and Tony Sparano followed as coach.

A great man, one of the nicest individuals I have ever known, Wayne Huizenga passed away. RIP — Jimmy Johnson (@JimmyJohnson) March 23, 2018

Saddened to hear about the passing of my long-time friend Wayne Huizenga. My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Huizenga family! #RIP — Dan Marino (@DanMarino) March 23, 2018

For a time, Huizenga was a favorite with South Florida sports fans, drawing cheers and autograph-seekers in public. The crowd roared when he danced the hokey-pokey on the field during an early Marlins game. He went on a spending spree to build a veteran team that won the World Series in the franchise's fifth year.

"Major League Baseball extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Wayne Huizenga," commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "Wayne played a pivotal role in bringing the Marlins to South Florida more than a quarter-century ago, and his leadership brought a World Championship season in 1997."

Huizenga's popularity plummeted when he ordered the Marlins' roster dismantled after that season. He was frustrated by poor attendance and his failure to swing a deal for a new ballpark built with taxpayer money.

He sold the Marlins to John Henry in 1998. Three years later, he sold the Panthers to Alan Cohen.

The Panthers retired the No. 37 jersey -- to represent Huizenga's birth year and lucky number -- on Jan. 18. It's just the second number to be retired by the franchise.

"The Florida Panthers organization is heartbroken by the news of H. Wayne Huizenga's passing," owner Vincent Viola said in a statement Friday. "Mr. Huizenga's lifelong commitment to our community, his philanthropy and his entrepreneurial spirit ensure that the Huizenga family legacy will live on in South Florida.

"I'm continually inspired by Wayne's example, from his vision and his civic-minded leadership, to his success fostering an environment of on-ice excellence, which continues to have a shaping influence on every step we take in the South Florida community. He will be remembered always by our Panthers family."

Many South Florida fans never forgave him for breaking up the Marlins' championship team. Huizenga drew boos when introduced at Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino's retirement celebration in 2000, and he kept a lower public profile after that.

In 2009, Huizenga said he regretted ordering the Marlins' payroll purge.

"We lost $34 million the year we won the World Series, and I just said, 'You know what, I'm not going to do that,"' Huizenga said. "If I had it to do over again, I'd say, 'OK, we'll go one more year.'"

H. Wayne Huizenga said his one disappointment as a sports owner was that the Miami Dolphins "did not bring a championship home" during his time with the team. Lynne Sladky/AP Photo

Starting with a single garbage truck in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1968, Harry Wayne Huizenga, a college dropout from the Chicago suburbs, built Waste Management, Inc., into a Fortune 500 company. He purchased independent sanitation engineering companies, and by the time he took the company public in 1972, he had completed the acquisition of 133 small-time haulers. By 1983, Waste Management was the largest waste disposal company in the United States.

The business model worked again with Blockbuster Video, which he started in 1985 and built into the leading movie rental chain nine years later. In 1996, he formed AutoNation.

"You just have to be in the right place at the right time," Huizenga said of his business acumen. "It can only happen in America."

Huizenga was a five-time recipient of Financial World magazine's CEO of the Year award and was the Ernst & Young 2005 World Entrepreneur of the Year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.