The construction of Aztec Bowl began an era of campus improvements performed under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a "make work" program that provided jobs and income to the unemployed during the Great Depression. Work was begun in 1933 with a $260,000 grant to excavate, level, fill, and reshape the site to suit a stadium; a later $216,863 grant enabled the completion of the project. Between 300 and 700 men, laboring with picks and shovels and mule-powered grading equipment, dug the stadium site and built Aztec Bowl out of cobblestone and concrete. When it was completed in 1936, it was the only stadium built on any college campus in California.

The 10,000-seat stadium was officially dedicated by President Edward L. Hardy at a 1936 football match between the Aztecs and Occidental College. The captains of both teams that evening left a record of the dedication: their cleat prints in a block of fresh cement that was then fitted into the stadium.

In 1948, an additional 2,592 seats were added to Aztec Bowl. Also in the late 1940s, Aztec Bowl also became the site of an annual spring ritual, in which students dressed in costume and portrayed comic-strip hero Li'l Abner and his Dogpatch, U.S.A., family.

Yearly commencement ceremonies were held at Aztec Bowl. On June 6, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was the commencement speaker and the recipient of an honorary doctorate of law degree, the first issued by the CSU system. A year later, additional seats were added to Aztec Bowl.

The last football game was played at Aztec Bowl in November 1966. Jack Murphy Stadium (now Qualcomm Stadium) opened in 1967, and the Aztecs moved their home games to this newer and larger facility in Mission Valley. During the following decade, Aztec Bowl was used for soccer matches, and the San Diego Symphony performed several concerts there during the summer.

During the 1980s, Aztec Bowl hosted a number of rock concerts, including The Police in 1983. In August 1994, the Lollapalooza music festival was held at the stadium.

In the late 1980s, plans were drawn for a new indoor arena and student activity center to be built on the site containing Aztec Bowl. Litigation ensued for several years, during which time the National Register of Historic Places added Aztec Bowl to its list. Over the protests of preservationists, a new indoor arena and student activity center were approved, and two-thirds of Aztec Bowl was demolished. Construction for the new facilities began in 1995 and was completed in 1997.

Remnants of Aztec Bowl remain adjacent to Cox Arena and Aztec Recreation Center. Pavement covers the football field, which is now L Lot parking and is used for Cox Arena deliveries.