From 1956 to 1960, the Minor League Baseball Miami Marlins team occasionally played games in the Orange Bowl.

LoanDepot Park, the home ballpark of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball, was built on the site.

During this opening game, the stadium's new lighting system went partially out, leaving the mid-field dark with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

In 1966, the AFL expansion Miami Dolphins played their first-ever regular season game in the stadium on September 2.

The west end zone upper deck section was then added in the 1960s, bringing the stadium to its peak capacity of 80,010.

In 1977, the permanent seats in the east end zone were removed, and further upgrades brought the stadium to its final capacity and design.

It was removed and replaced with a type of natural grass known as "Prescription Athletic Turf" after Super Bowl X in January 1976.

[14] Under the leadership of Hall of Fame head coach Don Shula, the Miami Dolphins enjoyed a winning record in the Orange Bowl against rival teams in the AFC Eastern Division.

Under Shula, the Dolphins were an impressive 57–9–1 (60–10–1 including playoff contests) against the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (15–3), the Boston/New England Patriots (15–1), the Buffalo Bills (16–1) and the New York Jets (13–4–1).

While much of this lack of success at Hard Rock Stadium is obviously attributable to a diminished level of talent and organizational stability, it is also widely recognized that the homefield advantage that the Dolphins enjoyed in the Orange Bowl was exponentially greater than in their newer home.

Visiting team quarterbacks often complained to referees or were forced to call time out as their teammates could not hear them barking out the signals due to the unbearable noise, especially when the Dolphins were making a goal-line stand in the closed West End Zone.

The Orange Bowl was also the site of the NCAA's longest college football home field winning streak.

The stadium's home field advantage used to include a steel structure that fans would set to rumbling by stomping their feet.

The West End Zone was a factor in the Wide Right curse, in which the Florida State Seminoles lost a series of close games due to missed field goals.

Some feared that Miami would permit the college to leave, only to tear down the Orange Bowl and replace it with the new stadium for the Marlins.

That fear became reality as Paul Dee, athletic director for the University of Miami, announced that the Hurricanes would be moving to Dolphin Stadium for the 2008 season.

Dee and university president Donna Shalala made the announcement during a press conference at the Hecht Athletic Center on August 21, 2007.

According to Miami City Manager Pete Hernandez, this put the Orange Bowl back in the forefront as a possible site for a new Marlins stadium.

Many fans stated to various broadcast, print and internet-based media outlets that they would no longer attend the games of Hurricanes football once the team abandoned the Orange Bowl.

Miami and FIU had engaged in a bench clearing brawl at the Orange Bowl the previous year during the first of two scheduled games between the two schools.

[19] In October 2005, Hurricane Wilma caused structural damage to the stadium, which rekindled discussion of tearing down the aging facility.

The game featured former Dolphin and Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, plus Mark Duper, Mercury Morris, Dwight Stephenson, A. J. Duhe, Don Strock, Jim Kiick, John Offerdahl, Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Melvin Bratton, Brian Blades, Bennie Blades and Eddie Brown.

As part of the new Marlins Park, the home field of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball, Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places commissioned Daniel Arsham and Snarkitecture to design a public art work to commemorate the Miami Orange Bowl.