On Saturday night, the No. 3 Miami Hurricanes will take on the Florida Gators in an in-state showdown. Miami will have home-field advantage for this one.
But one thing you may notice is that the Hurricanes play their home games at Hard Rock Stadium, also home to the Miami Dolphins. The stadium sits miles from UM’s campus, so students have to travel quite a bit for home games.
Here’s a look at where Miami plays its home games and why the school doesn’t have an on-campus stadium.
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Where does Miami play football?
Miami plays football at Hard Rock Stadium, which has hosted the school's home games since 2008. The stadium is located in Miami Gardens, roughly 15 minutes north of downtown Miami. The University of Miami's campus is located in Coral Gables, which sits 20-plus miles south of Hard Rock. Here's a look at the distance between the two:
Photo via Google Maps
Prior to playing their home games at Hard Rock, Miami played at the historic Orange Bowl, which was located eight miles southwest of UM's campus. The Orange Bowl was demolished in 2008 and is now home to the Miami Marlin's home stadium.
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University of Miami stadium details
While Hard Rock Stadium hosts Miami Hurricanes and Dolphins football games, it is a multi-purpose venue. It has hosted multiple Super Bowls, WrestleMania XXVIII, and several BCS and CFP national championships. The stadium also hosts the Miami Open tennis tournament every year and is used as part of the Formula 1 circuit for the Miami Grand Prix.
The stadium also hosted the Miami Marlins from 1993 to 2011 before they moved to their own stadium. In 2015, Hard Rock underwent a $350 million renovation that drastically improved the aesthetics of the venue.
The renovation added video boards in each corner of the stadium, more suites, and an open-air canopy over the main-level seats, providing much-needed shade. It also reduced the stadium’s capacity from 75,000 to 65,000 seats.
- Year built: 1985
- First game: Aug. 16, 1987, Dolphins vs. Bears preseason game
- Capacity: 64,747
Why doesn't Miami have a football stadium on campus?
There are a few reasons as to why Miami doesn't have an on-campus stadium. One of the biggest is that UM's campus sits in a largely residential area, and there isn't a ton of land available to build a stadium on.
There have been some attempts to build a stadium near Miami's campus in recent years. In 2022 a prominent Miami booster and local attorney proposed a new 60,000 stadium in nearby Tropical Park:
Now let’s deal with reality. If you aren’t a Cane, looking at the best stadium in all of College Football coming to realization, I would be very concerned too!!! https://t.co/bb9xOiYRvW pic.twitter.com/0SDpbtC4C2
— John H. Ruiz, CEO and Attorney at Law (@JohnHRuiz) August 26, 2022
The stadium would have needed local approval from the county to proceed, but local residents pushed back against the initiative heavily. According to Axios, residents and neighbors built a "Save Tropical Park" website, and raised issues with the proposal on social media as well as filing a petition. The group also put pressure on local lawmakers.
Ruiz's medical insurance claims recovery business is currently under investigation by the SEC, so it appears his plan for a new stadium is moot for now.
So for now, the Canes will be playing at Hard Rock Stadium until further notice. Hard Rock saw a record crowd for Miami's Week 1 win over Notre Dame, hosting 66,793 fans.