(Source: Ezra O. Shaw /Allsport)

(Source: Sun Life Stadium)

History The Orange Bowl was always chock full of history since it first opened in 1937. It hosted both college and professional football games, NCAA bowl games, five Super Bowl’s, pro soccer games, boxing bouts, wrestling matches, concerts and more. Considering that the building never really had any huge renovations, anytime you attended an event at the Orange Bowl it was easy to feel the history. Going to a Miami Hurricanes game in 2005, it wasn’t difficult to picture a Cowboys-Steelers Super Bowl played in ’76 or ‘79 or the big Bruce Springsteen concert in 1985. Though it hasn’t been open for nearly as long as the Orange Bowl was, there have been plenty of memorable events that have taken place at Sun Life Stadium. It’s hosted five Super Bowl’s, NCAA championship and bowl games, two World Series’, countless concerts, wrestling events and international soccer matches. As for the home teams, neither the Dolphins nor the Hurricanes have done anything terribly significant since moving to the stadium.

Location When the Orange Bowl was built in the late 1930’s it couldn’t have been placed in a better location. Right in the middle of Miami, it was easy to access for almost everyone living in South Florida. As the years went by though, the region grew and grew as people started migrating further north to newly developed land. As the South Florida population continued to rise, the area became less convenient to travel to and the neighborhoods surrounding the stadium became a little less friendly. Parking for big games could be an adventure as well. Joe Robbie was a visionary and when planning began for the new stadium, he knew that it needed to be more centrally located to make it more accessible for people throughout South Florida, from Boca Raton to Homestead. To this day, Sun Life Stadium remains in a perfect spot for fans all over the region to congregate for an event. Granted, the area surrounding the stadium will probably never be a hangout spot like it is for other venues around the country but that doesn’t stop it from being a convenient travel destination for most people living in South Florida.

Ambiance When walking into the Orange Bowl for a big game, there was a great feeling that you would get while walking through the concrete corridors and ramps. The place could get very loud and the fans definitely made it feel like home. The tightly-packed seats with no backs and the narrow open east end made for a fun place to go and when attending a big game, say Canes vs. Noles, you knew that the building would have the feel of a championship environment. Even when it’s packed full of 70,000 screaming fans, Sun Life Stadium doesn’t offer much more than a loud setting to watch an event. With room for so many people inside the venue, if it’s not completely sold out than there is a feeling of lagging support when you see rows of empty orange seats. Unfortunately, there just isn’t anything terribly unique or exciting about the fan experience inside the stadium.

Building While the Orange Bowl was full of history and character, the building itself wasn’t in the best of shape. A lack of any recent renovations gave the OB the feel of an old venue in need of a face lift. The corridors were narrow and the bathrooms were small and, for lack of a better word, gross. The bench-style seats had some charm but there is a reason that fans often brought their own portable chairs with backs to sit on. Also, the lack of any kind of video board in the 90’s and 2000’s was a major problem and showed that there was no intention of improving the fan experience. There isn’t anything terribly exciting about Sun Life Stadium’s appearance but there have been constant renovations over the past decade-plus to both the interior and exterior of the building, and more are on the way. Soon the stadium will have an overhang to shade fans from the sun and cover them from any inclement weather while leaving the playing surface exposed to the elements. The giant HD scoreboards are a plus, as is the sound system. The efforts are there to make the place look like more than just a big square full of orange seats.