The Roaming Photographer

Photo Credit

https://www.dreamstime.com/miami-gardens-florida-

usa-november-aerial-view-drone-photography-hard-

Former Names

1. Joe Robbie Stadium (1987 – 1996)

2. Pro Player Park (1996)
3. Pro Player Stadium (1996 – 2005)
4. Dolphins Stadium (2005 – 2006)
5. Dolphins Stadium (2006 – 2009)
6. Land Shark Stadium (2009 – 2010)
7. Sun Life Stadium (2010 – 2016)
8. New Miami Stadium (2016)
9. Hard Rock Stadium (2016 – Present)
Address: 347 Don Shula Drive

Location: Miami Gardens, Florida
Capacity:
1. American Football: 64,767(1)(2)
2. Tennis 14,000(3)
3. Original 75,000
Record Attendance:

1. Football 80,120 (BCS National Championship

Game)
2. Baseball 67,498 (1997 World Series Game 6)

Surface: Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass

Broke Ground: December 1st, 1985
Opened: August 16th, 1987
Construction Cost: US $115 million ($326

million in 2023 dollars)(6)
Project Manager: George A. Fuller Company(4)
General Contractor: Huber, Hunt & Nichols(5)
Tenants:

1. Miami Dolphins 1987 – Present

2. Russell Athletic Bowl(NCAA) 1990 – 2000

3. Florida Marlins 1993 – 2011
4. Orange Bowl(NCAA) 1996 – Present
5. Florida Atlantic Owls 2001 – 2022
6. Miami Hurricanes(NCAA) 2008 – Present
7. Miami Open(Tennis) 2019 – Present

Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami’s NCAA Division I college football team.

The stadium also has hosted six Super Bowls (XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, XLIV, and LIV) the 2010 Pro Bowl,(7) two World Series (1997 and 2003), four BCS National Championship Games (2001, 2005, 2009, and 2013), one CFP National Championship (2021), one Copa America final (2024), the second round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, and Wrestlemania XXVIII.

In addition, the stadium hosts the Orange Bowl, an annual college football bowl game, and the Miami Open tennis tournament. Since 2022, the grounds of Hard Rock Stadium has also hosted the Miami International Autodrome, a temporary racing circuit used for Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix. In addition, the stadium will host multiple matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup(8). It also hosted matches during the 2024 Copa America including the final. From 1993 to 2011, the stadium was the home field of the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB) until their move to LoanDepot Park in 2012.

The facility opened in 1987 as Joe Robbie Stadium and has been known by a number of names since: Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Land Shark Stadium, and Sun Life Stadium. In August 2016, the team sold the naming rights to Hard Rock Café Inc. for $250 million over 18 years; they will retain the naming rights until 2034.(9)

History

Conception and construction

For their first 21 seasons, the Miami Dolphins played at the Orange Bowl. Team founder Joe Robbie explained what led to the decision to build a new stadium: “In 1976, the city of Miami wanted to quadruple our rent. That did it. I began thinking in earnest about building a stadium.”(10) What made the construction of the stadium truly unique was that it was the first multipurpose stadium ever built in the United States that was entirely privately financed.(10)

Robbie also believed it was only a matter of time before a Major League Baseball (MLB) team came to South Florida. At his request, the stadium was built in a rectangular configuration, with a field that was somewhat wider than was normally the case for an NFL stadium(11). The wide field also made it fairly easy to convert the stadium for soccer. Because of this design decision, the first row of seats was 90 feet from the sideline in a football configuration, considerably more distant than the first row of seats in most football stadiums (the closest seats at the new Soldier Field, for instance, are 55 feet from the sideline at the 50-yard line). This resulted in a less intimate venue for football compared to other football facilities built around this time, as well as to the Orange Bowl.

At the time it opened in 1987, Joe Robbie Stadium was located in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, and had a Miami address. Specifically, it was in the Scott Lake census-designated place(12)(13). Today, it is located the city of Miami Gardens, which was incorporated on May 13th, 2003.(14)

Widespread damage to the stadium was reported to have occurred during the 2024 Copa America final internation soccer match which was held at Hard Rock Stadium on July 14th, 2024.(15)

Miami Dolphins

The first preseason game for the Dolphins was played on August 16th, 1987, against the Chicago Bears. The first regular season game was scheduled for September 27th, a week 3 game against the New York Giants; this game was canceled and not made up due to the 1987 players’ strike. The first regular season NFL game played there was a 42 – 0 Dolphins victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on October 11th, 1987. The game was in the middle of the 1987 NFL strike, and was played with replacement players(16). The first game with union players was on October 25th of that year, a 34 – 31 overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills. The stadium hosted its first Monday Night Football game on December 7th of that year, a 37 – 28 Dolphins victory over the New York Jets.

The Dolphins have played eight playoff games at the stadium, including the 1992 AFC Championship Game, which they lost to the Buffalo Bills 29 – 10. The Dolphins are 5 – 3 in playoff games held there, losing the most recent one in January 2009 against the Baltimore Ravens. Also of note, the stadium was host of the 2018 Miracle in Miami game against the New England Patriots, where the Dolphins scored on the last play of the game. The Dolphins have beaten every NFL team there at least once. The team is unbeaten there against the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams (4 – 0).

Miami Hurricanes Football

Since 2008, the stadium has served as the home field for the Miami Hurricanes college football team, a premier college football program that has won five national championships since 1983. The university signed a 25-year contract through 2033.(17)

Prior to their move Hard Rock Stadium, from 1937 until 2008, the Miami Hurricanes played their home games at the Miami Orange Bowl.

Florida Marlins

From 1993 until 2011, the stadium served as the home field to the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball.

While Joe Robbie Stadium was built primarily for football, it was also designed to easily accommodate baseball and soccer. Dolphins founder Joe Robbie believed it was a forgone conclusion that the MLB would come to South Florida, so he wanted the stadium designed to make any necessary renovations for baseball as seamless as possible. In 1990, Wayne Huizenga purchased 50% of Joe Robbie Stadium and became the point man in the drive to bring Major League Baseball to South Florida. That effort was rewarded in July 1991, when the Miami area was awarded an MLB expansion franchise. The new team was named the Florida Marlins, and placed in the National League to begin play in 1993. Proposed 1994 FIFA World Cup matches could not be held at the stadium, as this June – July tournament conflicted directly with the Marlins home games; Orlando’s Citrus Bowl was used instead. The first Marlins game at Joe Robbie Stadium was played on April 5th, 1993, a 6 – 3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Marlins drew over three million people in their inaugural season, and went on to win two World Series titles in 1997 and 2003.

Despite such preparation and pockets of success, the stadium was less than adequate as a baseball venue. Although designed from the ground up to accommodate baseball, it was not a true multi-purpose stadium. Rather, it was a football stadium that could convert into a baseball stadium. There were plenty of reminders of this at Marlins games. The stadium’s color scheme matched that of the Dolphins. When the football season overlapped, cleat marks, as well as silhouettes of hashmarks and logos of the Dolphins or Hurricanes, were visible on the baseball diamond. During football games, the infield dirt was visible on the gridiron. The Marlins reduced capacity to 47,662 (later to 35,521), mainly to create a more intimate atmosphere for baseball. However, capacity would have been likely reduced in any event, since many of the seats in the upper deck were too far from the field to be of any use during the regular season. Even with the reduced capacity, the sight lines were less than optimal for baseball. Most seats were pointed toward the 50-yard line – where center field was located in the baseball configuration. Lights were not angled for optimum baseball visibility. Players had to walk through football tunnels to get to dugouts that were designed with low ceiling joists. Some of these issues were showcased on national television during the two World Series held there, when capacity was expanded to over 67,000. Most notably, some of the areas of left and center field were not part of the football playing field, and fans sitting in the left-field upper deck could not see any game action in those areas except on the replay boards(18). These issues became even more pronounced over the years, as, by 2004,(19) a wave of baseball-only parks left what had by then renamed Pro Player Stadium as the only National League park that played host to both an MLB and NFL team.

Additionally, the stadium was built for games held during the fall/winter football season, not for games in the tropical summers of South Florida, which feature oppressive heat, humidity, frequent rain, and occasional tropical storms. For most of the stadium’s run as a baseball venue, it was the hottest stadium in the majors, with temperatures for day games frequently reaching well above 95 degrees. The Marlins played most of their summer home games at night as a result. The lack of refuge from the uncomfortable climate and disruptive rail delays were considered a cause of chronically low attendance after that inaugural season. When the Marlins were not contending, they struggled to attract crowds larger than 5,000, a figure that looked even smaller than that due to the cavernous environment. Some Marlins players later admitted that they “couldn’t wait to go on the road” because Sun Life Stadium “as their home had been renamed in 2010) had the “worst [playing] conditions” and least fan energy in the majors during years when the team was not a contender.(20)(21)(22)

Baseball renovations and configurations

After Huizenga bought part of the stadium, it was extensively renovated to accommodate a baseball team at the cost of several million dollars, as part of his successful bid to bring baseball to South Florida. Purists initially feared the result would be similar to Exhibition Stadium in Toronto; when the Toronto Blue Jays played there from 1977 to 1989, they were burdened with seats that were so far from the field (over 800 feet in some cases) that they were not even sold during the regular season. However, Robbie had foreseen Miami would be a likely location for a new or relocated MLB team, and the stadium was designed to make any necessary renovations for baseball as seamless as possible. On January 24th, 1994, soon after buying the Dolphins, Huizenga acquired the remaining 50% of the stadium to give him 100% ownership.

Aside from baseball renovations, the stadium underwent some permanent renovations. In April 2006, the stadium unveiled two Daktronics large video boards, the largest in professional sports at the time(23). The east display measured 50 foot high by 140 foot wide, and the west end zone display measured 50 foot high by 100 foot wide. A new 2,118-foot-long LED ribbon board, again the largest in the world at the time, was also installed. These have since been surpassed in size.(23)

In addition, the upgrades included vastly widened 40,000-square-foot concourses on the stadium’s north and south sides. Bars, lounges and other amenities were also added. The renovation had three phases, with the second and third phases of renovation taking place after the Marlins left the stadium. These remaining phases included adding a canopy to shield fans from the rain, which caused the relocation of the video boards to the corners of the upper deck, as well as narrowing the sidelines by bringing the seats closer to the field, ending it convertibility to baseball. The orange-colored seats were also replaced with aqua colored ones.(24)

2015 renovation

The Marlins left for their own stadium, Marlins Park (LoanDepot Park), which was completed for the 2012 MLB season.

A privately funded $350 million stadium renovation project began in January 2015, after the 2014 Orange Bowl. The project plan allowed the stadium to be used for football games during the 2015 NFL season, and was completed for the 2016 season(25). Stadium upgrades included video boards in each corner of the stadium, additional suites, and an open-air canopy over the main seating areas(26). As part of the renovation, the stadium’s seating capacity was reduced from 75,000 to 65,000 seats. Personal seat licenses (PSL) were not used, and a preview center opened at the stadium in February 2015 to help current and prospective season ticket holders select their ticket packages. Luxury packages were used in place of PSL revenue to help finance the stadium. Thirty-two four-seat pods were installed in the lower bowl at the south 30-yard lines, with an additional 16 pods at the south end zone(27). The pods feature a living room arrangement, including premium furniture and television screens that shoe the NFL RedZone channel and NFL programming.(28)

Copyrights And References

1. "FAQs". Miami Dolphins. Archived from the

original on June 12, 2015. Retrieved

April 7, 2016.

2. Akopyan, Manouk (January 18, 2015).

"Dolphins unveil $400M renovation plan for

Sun Life Stadium". National Football League.

Retrieved April 7, 2016. Sun Life Stadium's

capacity will decrease from 76,018 to

approximately 64,767 seats in 2017.

3. "Venue Miami Open". www.miamiopen.com.

Archived from the original on

February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.

4. Cosco, Joseph (August 2, 1985). "Head Of Dolphin