LoanDepot Park

Did You Know?

• The stadium hosted the 2026 NHL Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and the Florida Panthers, the NHL's southernmost outdoor stadium game.
• The Miami Beach Bowl college football bowl game was played at Marlins Park from 2014 through 2016 before moving to Frisco, Texas.
• The total cost to Miami-Dade County for the stadium is $2.4 billion, spread over 40 years, to repay $409 million in bonds.

History

Before LoanDepot Park was built, the Marlins played at what was originally Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami Gardens, a multi-purpose stadium built in 1987 for the Miami Dolphins of the NFL. Joe Robbie, the Dolphins' founder, anticipated MLB's arrival in South Florida and designed the stadium to accommodate baseball renovations. The Marlins began play there in 1993, drawing over three million fans in their first season and winning World Series titles in 1997 and 2003. The stadium remains home to the Dolphins and, since 2008, the Miami Hurricanes. However, Joe Robbie Stadium proved unsuitable for baseball due to poor sightlines, visible NFL branding, and a fan environment hindered by the distance between seats and the field. Miami's tropical climate, with frequent 95 °F heat and rainouts, further depressed attendance and player performance. By 2004, the Marlins were the only MLB team playing in an NFL-configured stadium.

Design

LoanDepot Park is the first MLB ballpark designed in what planners call the 'contemporary' architectural style, rejecting the nostalgic retro ballparks that had dominated the previous two decades. Owner Jeffrey Loria, who led the design, wanted a building that was 'different and experimental,' stating that it was time for baseball to be innovative. In early 2008, Loria met with architects from Populous in a London hotel lobby to discuss ideas. He told them he wanted no retro, no art-deco, and no looking back, but rather a contemporary building that reflected Miami as a forward-looking city. Loria sketched a round building on a napkin and asked for real drawings. Exec architect Earl Santee recalled Loria instructing them to 'make a piece of art.' The resulting neomodern design is intended to make a statement about Miami's present-day culture.

Features

The Marlins' front office commissioned several works of art and notable features for the stadium. The retractable roof consists of 8,300 tons of steel covered with a white membrane to avoid absorbing heat, according to executive vice president Claude Delorme. Separate retractable glass panels, 240 feet long and 60 feet high, offer views of the downtown Miami skyline and allow natural breezes when open. With the roof and panels closed, the air-conditioning system cools the stadium to an average of 75 °F. The roof takes about 14½ minutes to open, and the outfield panels open in 7–8 minutes. Behind the left center field wall stands a 65- to 75-foot-tall sculpture by Red Grooms, featuring clouds, flamingos, seagulls, marlins, and palm trees. When a Marlins home run is hit, the sculpture activates with motion, lights, and water blasts. Budgeted at $2.5 million and funded by the county's Art in Public Places department, the piece is unnamed; the Miami Herald's reader contest produced the nickname 'the Marlinator.' The sculpture sparked heated debate among taxpayers and fans, with some calling it tacky or ugly and others feeling it captured Miami's essence. Marlins players initially worried it might distract left-handed batters, but MLB officials approved the batter's eye after repainting a separate area from fluorescent green to black. In 2018, after Derek Jeter became CEO under new ownership, the Miami Art in Public Places trust voted to move the sculpture to the outdoor plaza, replacing it with a multi-level standing room area.

Notable baseball events

The first baseball game at Marlins Park was a high school contest between Christopher Columbus High School and Belen Jesuit Preparatory School on March 5, 2012. The Marlins then played exhibition games against the Miami Hurricanes and FIU Golden Panthers before hosting two spring training games against the New York Yankees. The first regular season game took place on April 4, 2012, before a sellout crowd of 36,601, with the Marlins losing 4–1 to the St. Louis Cardinals. The game was nationally televised on ESPN, and Muhammad Ali threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Despite a payroll expansion to over $100 million and the hiring of manager Ozzie Guillén, the Marlins finished the 2012 season in last place with a 69–93 record. Attendance averaged 27,400 per home game, ranking 18th in MLB—the smallest first-year attendance of any of the 11 ballparks opened between 2001 and 2012. Factors cited for the disappointing turnout included the team's poor performance, opposition to the Little Havana location, and resentment over the use of public money for construction.