PRO PLAYER STADIUM

Pro Player Stadium opened on August 16, 1987 in Miami, Florida. It is located at 2269 N.W. 199th St., Miami, Florida 33056, and is home to the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League and the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball. It has also hosted the Florida Atlantic Owls football team of Division I-AA since 2001. Pro Player Stadium can hold 75,000 people for football games and has a natural grass surface. The Dolphins originally played in the Orange Bowl in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but owner Joe Robbie wanted a new stadium for his team to generate more revenues. After repeatedly seeing his ideas for a tax raise shot down, Robbie decided to build the stadium himself. He raised funds through the selling of luxury suites and club level seats and through private donations and long-term agreements with season ticket holders. The new Joe Robbie Stadium was completed in just over two years.

The first game played at Joe Robbie Stadium was played on August 16, 1987. Video boards were installed above each end zone and escalators were put in to make each seat accessible to anyone. The new stadium was a definite upgrade from the Orange Bowl where the Dolphins had played before. In 1990, Wayne Huizenga bought 50% of the stadium in the hopes of bringing a baseball team to the area. The following year, the city was awarded the Florida Marlins and on April 5, 1993, the team began professional play, making Joe Robbie Stadium one of the few stadiums that played host to more than one professional team in the area. The seats in the lower level on the north side of the stadium had to become retractable so the field could be configured for baseball, but that was the biggest change to a stadium that has, for the most part, stayed the same over the last 15+ years. In the last 10 years, the stadium has hosted the 1997 and the 2003 World Series, as well as three Super Bowls over the duration of its existence. In 1996, the naming rights to the stadium were bought by Pro Player, who paid $20 million over a 10-year period.

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