Orange Bowl (stadium)
View east from the west end zone in 2007.
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| Former names | Burdine Stadium (1937–59) |
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| Location | 1501 NW 3rd Street Miami, Florida |
| Coordinates | 25°46′41″N 80°13′12″W / 25.778°N 80.220°WCoordinates: 25°46′41″N 80°13′12″W / 25.778°N 80.220°W |
| Owner | City of Miami |
| Operator | City of Miami |
| Capacity | 23,330 (1937–1943) 35,030 (1944–1946) 59,578 (1947–1949) 64,552 (1950–1952) 67,129 (1953–1954) 76,062 (1955–1960) 72,880 (1961–1962) 70,097 (1963–1967) 80,010 (1968–1976) 80,045 (1977–1980) 75,500 (1981–1990) 74,712 (1991–1993) 74,476 (1994–2002) 72,319 (2003–2007) |
| Surface | Natural grass – (1976–2008) PolyTurf – (1970–1975) Natural grass – (1937–1969) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1936 |
| Opened | December 10, 1937 |
| Expanded | 1944, 1947, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1968 |
| Closed | January 26, 2008 |
| Demolished | May 14, 2008 |
| Construction cost | $340,000 USD ($5.66 million in 2017 dollars) |
| Tenants | |
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Miami Hurricanes (NCAA) (1937–2007) Orange Bowl (NCAA) (1938–1996, 1999) Miami Seahawks (AAFC) (1946) Miami Dolphins (AFL / NFL) (1966–1986) Miami Toros (NASL) (1973–1975) Miami Freedom (ASL / APSL) (1988–1992) Miami Tropics (SFL) (2000) FIU Golden Panthers (NCAA) (2007) Miami FC (USL First Division) (2007) |
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The Miami Orange Bowl was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team. It also hosted the professional Miami Dolphins for their first 21 seasons, until the opening of Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in nearby Miami Gardens in 1987. The stadium was the temporary home of the FIU Golden Panthers while its FIU Stadium underwent expansion during the 2007 season.
From 1966 to 1968, and again in the 1970s, a live dolphin was situated in a water tank in the open (east) end of the Orange Bowl. He would jump in the tank to celebrate touchdowns and field goals. The tank that was set up in the 1970s was manufactured by Evan Bush and maintained during the games by Evan Bush and Dene Whitaker. Flipper was removed from the Orange Bowl after 1968 to save costs and the 1970s due to stress. In the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Snowflake, a live dolphin who does special behaviors after the Dolphins score a touchdown, was the basis of the film after he is kidnapped as part of a revenge plot against Dan Marino.
Originally known as Burdine Stadium when opened in 1937, it was renamed in 1959 for the Orange Bowl, college football bowl game which was played at the Orange Bowl following every season from 1938 to 1996. The event was moved to Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) beginning on December 31, 1996. In 1999, the bowl game was hosted at the Orange Bowl for one final time due to a scheduling conflict. The minor league Miami Marlins baseball team occasionally played games in the Orange Bowl from 1956 to 1960.
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