Orange Bowl Stadium (1948 – 1957)

History of the Orange Bowl stadium from 1948 until 1957

Cover: Orange Bowl Game on January 2, 1950

The first decade of the Roddy Burdine Orange Bowl stadium was a time of constant change and reconfiguration. The next ten years were no different. A reconfiguration of the official name, a consideration for an entirely new name, and several additional enlargement projects highlighted the evolution of the venue during its second decade.

As a city owned stadium, the municipality was responsible for raising the funds and overseeing the expansion projects. Bond issuances were sometimes controversial, but the city officials, along with the stadium’s advocates, were generally successful in acquiring the funds to grow the stadium over time.

College football bowl games brought in a lot of revenue for their host cities, and it created an arms race of sorts to ensure each of the municipalities that hosted a major bowl game had a state-of-the-art facility and enough seating capacity to attract the optimal matchup for their annual gridiron classic. This is the story of the second decade of the Orange Bowl Stadium when its namesake bowl game was still the seminal event hosted in the venue from 1948 through 1957.