Leaders from the city of Orlando are "moving closer to possibly hosting college football’s national championship game at the newly-renovated Citrus Bowl, but they haven’t settled on whether to submit a bid," according to Matt Murschel of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan said that tourism leaders and elected officials "have been talking over the idea of whether or not to submit a request for proposals to host the title game." Hogan: "Right now there is a community conversation going on. All of the theme parks are looking at that. Our elected leaders are looking at that." He added, "We’ve really charged everybody involved to say we really need to know [what] the community’s position is on responding to the RFP." Murschel notes CFP officials "will be sending out RFPs early in the spring of 2015 for cities who may be interested in hosting the game" starting in '18 and '19. Hogan: "It’s an $18-19 million venture. Florida Citrus Sports has always said we are not in a position to do that." He said that he "expects to hear from tourism officials either at the end of the year or the beginning of next year." He estimated that game would result in "anywhere from" $300-$350M of revenue for the area, not to mention the $100M "in exposure leading up to the game" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 12/8).
ORANGE CRUSH: In Orlando, George Diaz writes the Citrus Bowl's new 20,000-square-foot Plaza Deck is "perfectly configured for the party crowd." There are also "three huge LED screens, including one that is 88 feet wide and nearly four stories high," as well as "molded plastic chair-backs and 6 extra inches of legroom." The bathrooms also are without "those disgusting troughs." Orlando "used to have the airport, hotels, weather and theme-park mascots as great perks for teams who came here," but that was offset by "a really decrepit stadium." Now, there is "a spruced-up place to play, along with the other stuff." But the stadium "still needs work." Hogan "continues to be the principal pitchman lobbying" for an estimated $18-$20M in improvements that "will allow Orlando to bid for a national championship game." Hogan: "You ever feel like you're drinking out of the wrong end of the fire hose and it's coming at you so fast you don't have a chance to catch your breath? I would say that's how our entire organization feels" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 12/8).
