Orlando could end up hosting an NFL regular-season game in 2017
There's probably going to be a lot of NFL football being played in Florida in 2017.
By
John Breech
•
1 min read
The city of Orlando hasn't hosted an NFL game in almost 20 years, but that could change soon.
Steve Hogan, the CEO of Florida Citrus Sports, told the Orlando Sentinel this week that his plan is to bring the NFL back to central Florida by 2017.
"I promise you, I guarantee you, we will have NFL football in this stadium in 2017 -- one way or another," Hogan said. "We're absolutely focused on that and we're going to be back in the [NFL[ business."
The Citrus Bowl has hosted a total of five NFL preseason games in its 80-year history, but it hasn't hosted one since 1997 when the Jets topped the Buccaneers in an exhibition game. Although Hogan would likely be open to hosting a preseason game, he has his sights set on something bigger.
"I'm not just talking about preseason games, regular-season games are also in play," Hogan said.
Putting a regular-season game in Orlando isn't as crazy as it sounds. For one, the Citrus Bowl just underwent a $207 million renovation that brought the facility up to NFL standards. Not only that, but Hogan has actually talked with all three Florida teams -- the Jaguars, Dolphins and Buccaneers -- about the possibility of moving one of their games to Orlando.
Of those three, the Jaguars would probably be the least likely team to go, because they've already committed to play one of their home games in London for each of the next five seasons. However, the Buccaneers and Dolphins could both play in Orlando.
If the NFL really wanted to be creative, the league would have two of the Florida teams play each other, something that would be pretty simple to set up since the Bucs and Dolphins are scheduled to play each other in 2017.
Anyway, whatever the league decides, Orlandoans are going to have to show up in bigger numbers than they did the last time around. Back in 1997, the Jets-Bucs game only drew a total of 21,342 fans.
Despite that tiny crowd, Orlando is a city the NFL would probably prefer to be in. The central Florida city is the largest TV market in the country that doesn't have an NFL team.
