For 70 years, the Miami Orange Bowl was the beating heart of football in South Florida, a horseshoe-shaped stadium tucked into the Little Havana neighborhood where the Miami Hurricanes built a dynasty and the Miami Dolphins played their first two decades of NFL football.
It’s gone now, torn down in 2008 and replaced by a Major League Baseball park, but its history as a five-time Super Bowl host and one of college football’s loudest venues still draws searches from fans, historians, and anyone who grew up cheering under its lights.
Quick Answer
The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor stadium in Little Havana, Miami, that opened in 1937 as Burdine Stadium, was renamed the Orange Bowl in 1949, and grew to hold roughly 80,000 fans at its peak. It hosted the Miami Hurricanes (1937–2007) and Miami Dolphins (1966–1986), plus five Super Bowls, before closing on January 26, 2008, and being demolished that spring. loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, now stands on the site.
From Burdine Stadium to the Orange Bowl
The stadium opened on December 10, 1937, as Burdine Stadium, built for roughly $340,000 and named for department-store magnate John Burdine, who helped fund its construction. It was renamed the Orange Bowl in 1949, cementing its identity with the annual Orange Bowl college football game that had been played there since 1938.
Fans nicknamed it ‘Football Heaven’ and ‘The Old Horseshoe,’ a reference to the open end zone that gave the bowl its distinctive shape for much of its life. The playing surface itself changed over the decades too — natural grass gave way to Poly-Turf artificial turf from 1970 to 1975 before the stadium returned to grass for its final three decades.
Where the Orange Bowl Stood in Little Havana
The stadium sat at 1501 NW 3rd Street in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, roughly bounded by NW 3rd Street to the south, NW 16th Avenue to the west, NW 6th Street to the north, and NW 14th Avenue to the east — just west of downtown Miami. That footprint is the same 17-acre site loanDepot Park occupies today, so anyone looking for ‘where the Orange Bowl was’ can find the exact spot by visiting the current ballpark.
How Big Was the Orange Bowl? Capacity Through the Years
The Orange Bowl grew almost continuously for its first 30 years. It opened with 23,330 seats in 1937, and the addition of end-zone seating in 1944 pushed capacity to around 35,000. Further expansion had the stadium past 59,000 seats by 1947, and by the late 1960s it topped out at roughly 80,000, making it one of the largest stadiums in the country at the time.
As the stadium aged and NFL-caliber amenities became less of a priority after the Dolphins left, capacity was gradually trimmed back for safety and configuration reasons, settling at 72,319 for its final seasons from 2003 to 2007.
Home Field: Miami Hurricanes and Miami Dolphins
The University of Miami Hurricanes played at the Orange Bowl from 1937 until the 2007 season, winning multiple national championships in front of one of college football’s most intimidating home environments. The Dolphins called it home for the franchise’s first 21 seasons, from 1966 through 1986, including the 1972 perfect season, before moving to what is now Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.
The Hurricanes’ departure after the 2007 season — following the Dolphins’ exit two decades earlier — left the city-owned stadium without a marquee tenant, which was the final factor that sealed its fate.
Five Super Bowls and a Championship Legacy
Miami’s warm winter climate made the Orange Bowl a natural fit for the NFL’s championship game, and it hosted five Super Bowls between 1968 and 1979: Super Bowl II (Green Bay 33, Oakland 14), Super Bowl III (New York Jets 16, Baltimore 7 — the game where Joe Namath’s guarantee became legend), Super Bowl V (Baltimore 16, Dallas 13, the first Super Bowl played on artificial turf), Super Bowl X (Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17), and Super Bowl XIII (Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31).
Beyond the Super Bowls, the stadium hosted the Orange Bowl college football game itself almost every year from 1938 through 1995, and again in 1999, drawing top-ranked programs and bowl-season crowds from across the country.
More Than Football
The Orange Bowl’s history goes beyond sports. In December 1962, President John F. Kennedy addressed a crowd there to greet survivors of the Bay of Pigs invasion’s Brigade 2506. In 1980, the stadium’s grounds were used to help process refugees arriving during the Mariel boatlift. It also hosted major concerts and, for a period, a live dolphin mascot that lived in a tank near the field — a nod to the Dolphins’ tenancy.
Closing Day and Demolition
The Orange Bowl hosted its last event on January 26, 2008, and demolition ran from March 3 to May 14, 2008. Preservation efforts to save or renovate parts of the aging stadium gained support from fans and Little Havana residents, but they couldn’t overcome the loss of the Hurricanes as a tenant and the cost of bringing the 70-year-old facility up to modern standards.
What’s There Now: loanDepot Park and the Orange Bowl Memorial
Miami-Dade County and the Marlins built a new ballpark on the Orange Bowl’s footprint, breaking ground in July 2009 and opening in March 2012 as Marlins Park; it’s now known as loanDepot Park. The stadium’s legacy wasn’t erased entirely — a public art installation called ‘A Memorial Bowing’ recreates letters from the original Orange Bowl marquee sign at their full original height, scattered across the ballpark’s east plaza so that visitors walking through spell out new words as they move.
If you want to see the site in person or check current game schedules, tours, and admission info for what’s there today, the official loanDepot Park ballpark page is the best source for up-to-date visiting details.
Miami Orange Bowl stadium history FAQs
When was the Miami Orange Bowl demolished?
The Miami Orange Bowl was demolished between March 3 and May 14, 2008, shortly after its final event on January 26, 2008.
How many Super Bowls did the Orange Bowl host?
The Orange Bowl hosted five Super Bowls: II (1968), III (1969), V (1971), X (1976), and XIII (1979), making it one of the most-used Super Bowl venues of its era.
What was built on the Orange Bowl site?
loanDepot Park, the home ballpark of the Miami Marlins, was built on the former Orange Bowl site and opened in March 2012 (originally as Marlins Park).
Where exactly was the Miami Orange Bowl located?
It stood at 1501 NW 3rd Street in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, on the same 17-acre footprint that loanDepot Park occupies today.
Is anything left of the original Orange Bowl?
The stadium itself is gone, but a public art piece called ‘A Memorial Bowing’ recreates letters from the original Orange Bowl sign in the east plaza of loanDepot Park as a tribute.
How big was the Miami Orange Bowl?
It opened with 23,330 seats in 1937 and grew to a peak capacity of roughly 80,000 by the late 1960s, before settling at 72,319 for its final seasons.
Why did the Miami Hurricanes leave the Orange Bowl?
The Hurricanes moved to what is now Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens ahead of the 2008 season, leaving the aging, city-owned Orange Bowl without a primary tenant, which led to its closure and demolition.
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