Hard Rock Stadium: a breakdown of the oldest major league sports venue in Florida

Some wines and beautiful people get better with age, while others fade over the years. The same is true of sports venues. Some stadiums and arenas deteriorate and become forlorn after only a couple of decades, while others are still vital and beloved a century after they were built—helped along by occasional renovations. Cubs and Knicks fans are as fond of Wrigley Field and Madison Square Garden, respectively, as they are of their teams.

Vivid Seats determined the oldest major sports venue in every state with at least one top professional league team using data from stadium, arena, league, and news websites. Major sports were defined as all teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLS, and NWSL—pro leagues with teams that play in a total of 145 venues. The average age of these venues is 22.4 years, and only 20 opened in 1990 or earlier.

NBA arenas appear most often on the national list, with nine of the 28 venues hosting men’s basketball teams. The MLB comes in second with eight; the NHL and WNBA venues have six each; the NFL has five; the NWSL has four; and MLS stadiums appear three times.

Venues were chosen based on the original opening date. Renovations were not factored in, except in cases where the original structure was demolished.

Hard Rock Stadium by the numbers

- Year opened: 1987
- City: Miami Gardens
- Capacity: 65,326
- Team: Miami Dolphins (NFL)

It’s changed names an average of once every four-plus years, and this stadium has hosted many events: six Super Bowls, four BCS National Championships, two World Series (when it doubled as the Marlins’ stadium), all University of Miami Hurricanes home games, the annual Orange Bowl, and—as the new name suggests—many rock concerts. That’s a lot of wear and tear after 35 years. But it’s held up reasonably well as the first U.S. multipurpose stadium financed entirely by private investors. 

Keep reading to see which major league sports venues are the oldest in the country.

Oldest major league sports venues

#1. Fenway Park: opened in 1912 in Boston, Massachusetts
#2. Wrigley Field: opened in 1914 in Chicago, Illinois
#3. Providence Park: opened in 1926 in Portland, Oregon
#4. Lambeau Field: opened in 1957 in Green Bay, Wisconsin
#5. Dodger Stadium: opened in 1962 in Los Angeles, California