The state of Hawaii only gets to host one NFL game per year and Orlando is trying to steal it.
Steve Hogan, the CEO of Florida Citrus Sports, confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel this week that his organization is trying to bring the 2017 Pro Bowl to Orlando.
"We've been very aggressively trying to showcase Orlando," Hogan told the Sentinel. "We believe it is the best city to host the Pro Bowl, and the NFL has given us the opportunity to pitch our city. We hope when all is said and done, we're going to be hosting the game."
Back in early April, Hogan announced that the city would start aggressively bidding to land NFL games. Although he'd like to eventually land a regular season game, it looks like Hogan would be more than happy if Orlando were to win the bid to host the Pro Bowl.
If Orlando won the bid, the Pro Bowl would be held at the Citrus Bowl, which underwent a $207 million renovation that was completed in November 2014.
Of course, landing the Pro Bowl is a lot easier said than done. Orlando won't just be going up against Honolulu in a bid to host the game.
An NFL spokesman confirmed that Sydney Australia is also in the running. During the week of the Super Bowl, the NFL's executive vice president of international, Mark Waller, also mentioned Australia as a possibility.
Houston is also interested in hosting the 2017 Pro Bowl, which will be played the Sunday before Super Bowl LI is held in Houston next February.
The final decision on where the game will be played is expected to made before May 31 because that's the deadline the NFL has in its current contract with Hawaii Tourism Authority.
The 2017 game is tentatively scheduled to be held in Hawaii. However, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the NFL has until May 31 to opt out of the deal. If the NFL opts out, that means that game will likely move to Orlando, Houston or Sydney.
