Hard Rock Stadium
Hard Rock Stadium is a stadium where football, soccer, and other sports are played. The stadium is in Miami Gardens, Florida, which is part of the Miami metropolitan area. It replaced the Orange Bowl, Miami's other football stadium. The Miami Dolphins (pro football) and the Miami Hurricanes (University of Miami football) both play in the stadium. Also, Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins, then known as the Florida Marlins, played there from their first season in 1993 through the 2011 season, after they moved to Marlins Park, a stadium built for baseball at the former Orange Bowl site.[2]
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Former names | Dolphin Stadium (1987, 2006 – 2008) Joe Robbie Stadium (1980 - 1986,1987 – 1996) Pro Player Park (1996) Pro Player Stadium[1] (1996 – 2005) Dolphins Stadium (2005 – 2006) Land Shark Stadium (2009 - 2010) Sun Life Stadium (2011 - 2016) New Miami Stadium (2016) Hard Rock Stadium (2016-) |
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Location | 2269 Dan Marino Boulevard Miami Gardens (Opa Locka), Florida 33169 |
Owner | H. Wayne Huizenga (50%) and Stephen M. Ross (50%) |
Capacity | 47,662 (1993 Baseball)* 42,531 (2001 Baseball)* 36,531 (2003 Baseball)* 36,331 (2006 Baseball)* 38,560 (2008 Baseball)* 74,916 (Soccer) 76,500 (2012 WWE Wrestling)* *Expandable to approximately 68,000 for baseball |
Field size | Left Field – 330 ft/100.6 m Left-Center – 361 ft/110 m Center Field – 404 ft/123.1 m Right-Center – 361 ft/110 m Right Field – 345 ft/105.1 m Backstop – 58 ft/17.7 m |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Started | December 1, 1985 |
Opened | August 16, 1987 |
Construction cost | $115 million |
Architect | HOK Sport |
Tenants | |
Miami Dolphins (NFL) (1987 – present) Florida Marlins (MLB) (1993 –2011) Florida Atlantic Owls (NCAA) (2001 – 2002) FedEx Orange Bowl (1996 – 1998), (2000 – present) Blockbuster/Carquest/MicronPC/Champs Sports Bowl (1990 – 2000) University of Miami Hurricanes (NCAA) (2008 – present) |
Since it was built, six Super Bowls (Super Bowl XXIII, Super Bowl XXIX, Super Bowl XXXIII, Super Bowl XLI, Super Bowl XLIV, Super Bowl LIV), two World Series (1997 World Series and 2003 World Series), and three BCS National Championship Games (2001 Orange Bowl, 2005 Orange Bowl, 2009 BCS National Championship Game) and 2012 WWE WrestleMania XXVIII have been held in the stadium.[source?]
The building of the stadium
changeThe stadium was the first stadium that was built using money from private people. Joe Robbie was the person who gave a good part of the money needed to build the stadium.
Robbie made the stadium with a wider field so that soccer and baseball could be played in the stadium. The seats that are closest to the field are 90 feet from the sidelines on the football field. Baseball was played in the stadium as planned, making use of the wider fields.
After the stadium was completed, it was named for the person who designed the field, Joe Robbie. The first regular season NFL game that was played in the stadium was a win against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Other events
changeThe Miami Dolphins started playing in the stadium in 1987. The Miami Marlins, when they were known as the Florida Marlins, played there from 1993 through 2011. The Orange Bowl game has been held in Hard Rock Stadium every year since 1996. Since the stadium was completed, Madonna, U2, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Billy Joel, Chicago, Genesis, Gloria Estefan, The Police, Guns N' Roses, The Who, Hall & Oates, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, and The Three Tenors have all had concerts at the stadium. WWE WrestleMania XXVIII was also held the stadium with a record crowd of 78,363 fans. (Main Event John Cena vs. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson)
Notes
change- ↑ "Pro Player Stadium". Archived from the original on 2010-12-28. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
- ↑ "Yahoo! Sports - Sports News, Scores, Rumors, Fantasy Games, and more". Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2017-08-31.