Music and Sports Venues

Hard Rock Stadium is a multipurpose football stadium located in Miami Gardens, Florida and is home to the Miami Dolphins and the Univetsity of Miami Hurricanes. The stadium opened on August 16, 1987 with a preseason game between the Dolphins and the Chicago Bears. Due to the NFL players strike in 1987 the Dolphins didn’t play a regular season game in the stadium until October 11th against the Kansas City Chiefs. The game was played with replacement players because of the on-going strike and the Dolphins won 42 – 0. The first game they played in the stadium after the strike was against the Buffalo Bills on October 25th. The Dolphins lost that game in overtime 34 – 31.

The University of Miami Hurricanes moved to Hard Rock Stadium in 2008 when the Orange Bowl was demolished. The Orange Bowl was one of the most recognizable football stadiums in the country and the Hurricanes had played there for nearly 70 years. It also hosted five Super Bowls and eleven National Championship football games. The Miami Dolphins also called the Orange Bowl home until they moved to Joe Robbie Stadium in 1987.

Hard Rock Stadium was named Joe Robbie Stadium (after the Dolphins owner) when it opened in 1987. It cost $115M to build and took less than two years to construct. It has gone through many names and renovations since the time it opened. The stadium was built as a multipurpose facility because Joe Robbie believed that major league baseball would come to south Florida and he wanted to be able to convert the stadium to accommodate baseball with minimal renovations. In 1990 Wayne Huizenga bought 50% of the stadium. He drove the effort to bring baseball to south Florida and in 1991 Miami was awarded an expansion team. The team was named the Florida Marlins and they began playing in the National League in 1993 at Joe Robbie stadium. The Marlins called the stadium home through 2011.

Hard Rock Stadium has a lot of history. It has hosted five Super Bowls, the 2010 Pro Bowl, the World Series twice, and four BCS National Championship games. Over the years it has boasted many names. The original name was Joe Robbie Stadium. It kept that name for 11 years from 1987 – 1996. In 1996 it became known as Pro Player Stadium. It remained Pro Player Stadium through 2005 at which time it became Dolphin Stadium. This name lasted for 3 years until 2009 when it was named Land Shark Stadium. That name only lasted a short time. In 2010 the name changed once again and the stadium became known as Sun Life Stadium. It remained Sun Life Stadium until 2016 when Hard Rock Café purchased the naming rights for 18 years at a cost of $250M. They changed the name to the current Hard Rock Stadium. There were other names that lasted only a short time such as Pro Player Park, Dolphins Stadium and New Miami Stadium.

There have been millions of dollars spent on renovations for the stadium over the years. In 1991 major renovations were made to accommodate the Marlins. More renovations took place during 2006 – 2007. They included new video boards, widened concourses on the North and South ends of the stadium and additional bars, lounges and other amenities. After the Marlins moved into their new stadium in 2011 more renovations were made to Hard Rock Stadium. In 2013 the Dolphins announced plans for a $500M renovation that would take place in two phases and would be financed by the team. The first phase of the renovation was started after the 2014 season. The sidelines were renovated and the lower bowl was moved 24 feet closer to the field bringing fans closer to the action. The seats in the four corners of the upper decks were removed. This cut the seating capacity to just over 65,000. All of the orange seats in the stadium were replaced with aqua seats. This phase was completed before the start of the 2015 season. The second phase of the renovation began after the 2015 season. This phase added four spires in the four corners of the stadium and a canopy that shields the fans from the elements and was completed before the 2016 began.

The stadium now seats 65,000 and has 200 suites and 10,000 club seats. The renovations have changed the outdated stadium into a state of the art venue. As a result of the upgrades Hard Rock Stadium has landed the 2020 Super Bowl as well as the College Football Playoff National Championship game in 2021. Even though the stadium is over 30 years old it will once again shine in the limelight.

Parking at the stadium is plentiful. There are 141 acres consisting of over 24,000 spaces for cars, nearly 200 buses, 100 RV’s and nearly 100 limousines. There is also a helipad site at the stadium.

In addition to football there have been many concerts that have taken place at Hard Rock Stadium. Concerts have included big names such as Paul McCartney, The Who, U2, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Madonna and many others. The stadium has gone through a lot over the years and is definitely worth visiting if you are going to be in the Miami area.

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