The Florida Citrus Bowl
(formerly Orlando Stadium
, Tangerine Bowl
and the Citrus Bowl
) is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, USA, built for football which currently seats around 70,000 people. Its main events are the Capital One Bowl the Champs Sports Bowl and Monster Jam. It also hosts the annual Florida Classic between Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University. From 1979-2006, it served as the home of the UCF Golden Knights football team.
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CITRUS BOWL TICKETS
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Capacity
The stadium seats 65,438 people and can be increased to over 70,000 people with temporary bleachers in the north end zone. The temporary bleachers were last used for the 2005 Capital One Bowl, which had an attendance of 70,229. The
Walt Disney World Florida Classic, a rivalry football game between
Florida A&M and
Bethune-Cookman is held annually in November. The 2003 game held the stadium's all-time record for attendance of 73,358 until 2008. WrestleMania XXIV broke the record with an attendance of 74,635.
Surface
The playing surface is large enough for use in international
soccer matches, and it was a venue for the
1994 World Cup. In 1996
Olympic soccer matches were held at the stadium. It hosted the
USISL A-League Orlando Sundogs in 1997. It also hosted the
Major League Soccer All-Star Game in 1998. Its most recent high-level soccer game was on
January 13,
2008, between
Chivas de Guadalajara of the
Mexican Premier Division and
Deportivo Cali of
Colombian Professional Football. Chivas won, 2–1, before 15,121 fans.
[1]
History
The stadium opened in 1936, with a capacity of 8,900. The first college football game was played on
January 1 1947. Catawba defeated Maryville 31–6. Two thousand seats were added in 1952. Five thousand more seats were added in 1968, along with the first press box. From 1974–76 the capacity was raised to 52,000. The current capacity of 65,438 was established in 1989, after a
$38 million renovation that added the upper decks. In 1983, the Florida Department of Citrus was added as a title sponsor for the facility, at a price of
$250,000. From 1999 to 2002, key stadium improvements included the addition of contour seating, two
escalators, and a new wide
video screen. A new sound system, along with two full-color displays along the upper decks, was also added.
Football
The Citrus bowl has hosted several professional
American football leagues unsuccessfully. In 1974, the
Florida Blazers of the
World Football League played their only season in existence at Tangerine Stadium. The
Orlando Renegades of the
United States Football League played there in 1985. The
Orlando Thunder of the
WLAF played there in 1991 and 1992. The
Orlando Rage of the
XFL played there in 2001.
Several
NFL preseason football games have been held at the stadium, most recently between the
Buccaneers and
Jets in 1997. Several neutral field regular season college football games have been held at the facility; notable games include
Florida vs.
Mississippi State and
Florida State vs.
Notre Dame on
November 12,
1994.
The stadium is still used as the home field for
Jones High School. During regular season play, all of the school's Varsity Home games are played at the Citrus Bowl out of convenience to the school, as it is located nearby, and does not have a football field. The school has an agreement with the
City Of Orlando to use the facility.
Concerts
Numerous concerts have been held at the stadium, including
The Who,
Genesis,
Pink Floyd,
George Michael,
Paul McCartney,
Guns N' Roses,
Billy Joel/
Elton John,
Bob Seger,
Fleetwood Mac, and
The Eagles. It was also the only venue where
Van Halen and
The Rolling Stones played together live, which occurred in October 1981. The
Super Bowl of Motorsports
monster truck event makes an annual January visit. The
AMA Supercross Series holds an annual spring event. In July 2003, The Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003 made its stop in the Citrus Bowl featuring
Metallica,
Limp Bizkit,
Linkin Park,
Deftones, and
Mudvayne.
WrestleMania XXIV
On
March 21 2007,
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Orlando Mayor
Buddy Dyer, and Central Florida Sports Commission President John Saboor held a press conference at the Orlando City Hall Rotunda announcing that the Citrus Bowl will host
WrestleMania XXIV on
March 30 2008. Buddy Dyer and John Saboor stated that after six months of negotiations with WWE, the Commission managed to successfully recruit the 24th edition of the
annual event to the city of Orlando. World Wrestling Entertainment officials were in Orlando at the beginning of the year to tour the Orlando Centroplex.
WWE and the City of Orlando planned to host festivities that spanned over a five day period within the central Florida region bringing numerous branding opportunities and television coverage, leading up to the event at the Citrus Bowl.
[2] Despite the risks of an outdoor show, WWE chairman
Vince McMahon had announced that the "show will go on, regardless of the weather."
[3] The Central Florida Sports Commission estimated WrestleMania XXIV will pump
$25 million into the local economy while creating numerous jobs, and bring around 60,000 visitors to the city for the event.
[4]
Tickets went on sale
November 3 2007.
[5] Over 41,000 tickets were sold in 60 minutes, making WrestleMania XXIV the highest-grossing event in the history of the Citrus Bowl. In the end, 74,635 Fans attended the event, smashing the previous Citrus Bowl record.
[6]
[7]According to a study by Enigma Research Corp. of Toronto, the Citrus Bowl's record-breaking attendance of 74,635, consisting of people from 21 countries, all 50 states, and five Canadian provinces, ended up pumping an estimated $51.5 million, surpassing the projected $25 million, into the local economy and generated $1.8 million in local tax revenue.
[8]
World Wrestling Entertainment CEO,
Linda McMahon stated that WrestleMania could be brought back to the Citrus Bowl in the near future.
Other Events
Drum Corps International has held its annual
World Championships at the Citrus Bowl four times in 1996, 1997, 1998 & 2003.
The
Monster Jam shows held there every year feature a track simaler to the one at
Sam Boyd Stadium.
The Corporate
5K Orlando
road race has been based at the stadium for several years.
Future
In 2005,
Orlando-area government officials and
University of Central Florida officials expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the facility, which led UCF to move to a new on-campus stadium called
Bright House Networks Stadium for the
2007 season. While UCF was the only leasing tenant of the Citrus Bowl, they received minimal revenue from football games. The distance of the stadium (over ten miles) from the
campus also led to the decision of UCF to play at Bright House Networks Stadium.
City of Orlando officials are currently exploring a stadium refurbishment project. In 2004, the
Capital One Bowl, held at the Citrus Bowl, bid to become a
BCS game, but was not chosen, due to the stadium's aging condition. The Citrus Bowl also submitted a bid for the
ACC Championship Game, but lost out to
Jacksonville's
Alltel Stadium. The key reasons for losing the bids are the lack of modern
luxury boxes, bench seating, and capacity. If the stadium is rehabilitated, many experts believe that since Orlando is a large, tourist-based city with an abundance of
hotel rooms, it could attract more events, including the
Super Bowl. If it is not refurbished, many fear the stadium could eventually lose the remainder of their tenants, and risk being demolished.
The hopes for the Citrus Bowl became reality when, on
September 29 2006, Orlando Mayor
Buddy Dyer announced an agreement on a $175-million expansion of the Citrus Bowl. It is part of the "Triple Crown for Downtown", a $1.1-billion plan to redo the Orlando Centroplex with a
new $480-million arena for the
Orlando Magic, a new $375-million performing arts center, and the Citrus Bowl improvements. Conceptual drawings for the possible improvements include enclosed concourses on the east and west sides of the stadium and additions to the north side that will finally complete the lower bowl . The "Triple Crown for Downtown" agreement was approved by the Orlando City Council on
July 26 2007.
Movies and television
The Citrus Bowl was a filming location for the
1998 Adam Sandler movie
The Waterboy
. In the film, the Citrus Bowl depicted both the home stadium of the fictional University of Louisiana Cougars as well as the venue of the climactic Bourbon Bowl game.
Exterior shots of the Citrus Bowl were used in the television series
Coach,
starring
Craig T. Nelson as Coach Hayden Fox. In the show, the Citrus Bowl was the home stadium of the fictional Orlando Breakers franchise lead by Coach Fox.
References
- Guadalajara 2-1 Deportivo Cali
- WrestleMania 24 Coming To Orlando.
- WrestleMania 24 will go on, even if it rains.
- Orlando To Host WrestleMania XXIV At Citrus Bowl In 2008.
- What you need to know about WrestleMania XXIV
- Mayweather gets pretty payday in another ring - Los Angeles Times
- Columns - newsjournalonline.com
- WrestleMania XXIV brought more than the Undertaker to Central Florida.