Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium
| Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium | |
|---|---|
| Fifth Third Bank Field | |
 | |
| Former names |
Orlando Stadium (1936–1946) Tangerine Bowl (1947–1975) Citrus Bowl (1976) Orlando Stadium (1977–1982) Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium (1983–present) |
| Location | 1 Citrus Bowl Place, Orlando, Florida 32805 |
| Coordinates | 28°32′21″N 81°24′10″W / 28.53917°N 81.40278°WCoordinates: 28°32′21″N 81°24′10″W / 28.53917°N 81.40278°W |
| Broke ground | 1936 |
| Opened | 1936 |
| Owner | City of Orlando |
| Operator | Orlando Venues |
| Surface |
AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D 2010 to present Grass 1936 to 2009 |
| Construction cost |
$115,000 $38 million (renovation) ($1.93 million in 2014 dollars[ 1]) Renovations: ($71.6 million in 2014 dollars[ 1]) |
| Capacity | 65,438[1] (expandable to 70,229) |
| Field dimensions |
120 yds × 53.3 yds (football) 114 yds × 74 yds (soccer) |
| Tenants | |
|
Capital One Bowl (NCAA) (1947-1972,1974-present) Russell Athletic Bowl (NCAA) (2001–present) Florida Classic (NCAA) (1997-present) MEAC/SWAC Challenge]] (2008–present) Orlando City SC (MLS) (2015) Orlando City (USL Pro) (2011–2013) UCF Knights football (NCAA) (1979–2006) Orlando Broncos (SFL) (1962–1963) Orlando Panthers (CFL) (1966–1970) Florida Blazers (WFL) (1974) Orlando Americans (AFA) (1981) Orlando Renegades (USFL) (1985) Orlando Thunder (WLAF) (1991–1992) 1994 FIFA World Cup Orlando Sundogs (A-League) (1997) Drum Corps International (1996–1998, 2003) Orlando Rage (XFL) (2001) Jones High School football Florida Tuskers (UFL) (2009–2010) WrestleMania XXIV (2008) East-West Shrine Game (NCAA) (CIS) (2010–2011) | |
The Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium (formerly Orlando Stadium, Tangerine Bowl and Citrus Bowl) is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, USA, built for football, that seats 65,437.[1]
It is the current home of the Capital One Bowl, the Russell Athletic Bowl, the Florida Classic between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman, the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, and Monster Jam. In the past, it has served as home of several alternate-league American football teams. From 2011 to 2013, it was the home of the Orlando City Soccer Club, a soccer team in USL Pro.[2]
From 1979 to 2006, it served as the home of the UCF Knights football team. It was also one of the nine venues used for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
On February 15, 2013, it was announced that Fifth Third Bank had purchased naming rights to the field for Orlando City matches. Its name during those will be Fifth Third Bank Field at the Citrus Bowl.
Capacity
The stadium has 65,438[1] permanent seats and can seat 70,229 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. WrestleMania 24 in 2008 held the stadium's all-time record for attendance of 74,635.
History
The stadium opened in 1936 with a capacity of 8,900 as Orlando Stadium. The first college football game was played on January 1, 1947. Catawba defeated Maryville 31–6. Two thousand seats were added in 1952. During this period, the stadium was known as the Tangerine Bowl. Five thousand more seats were added in 1968, along with the first press box. From 1974–76 the capacity was raised to 52,000. A 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 107-foot (33 m) wide video screen. A new sound system, along with two full-color displays along the upper decks, was also added. The stadium was built to the immediate east of the baseball park Tinker Field. Expansion of the stadium resulted in the upper deck overhanging Tinker Field's right field area, albeit at a significant height.
Football
The Citrus Bowl has been home field to several short-lived professional football teams. In 1974, the Florida Blazers of the World Football League played their only season in existence at the Tangerine Bowl. The USFL's Orlando Renegades played one season in 1985. The Orlando Thunder of the WLAF called the Citrus Bowl home in their two-season existence (1991–1992), the XFL's Orlando Rage played there in 2001, the UFL's Florida Tuskers, who played 2 seasons (2009–2010) before moving to Virginia Beach, Virginia as the Virginia Destroyers in 2011, and the Orlando Fantasy of the Lingerie Football League moved to the stadium in 2011 (after playing its previous two years in UCF Arena).
Several National Football League preseason football games have been held at the stadium, including the Buccaneers versus 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 varsity football team from Jones High School uses the Citrus Bowl as a regular season home field, as it does not have a home stadium to call its own; the school has an agreement with the City of Orlando to use the facility.
Rollins College, Winter Park, FL, was the first college to use the then named Orlando Stadium as is home field. It played there prior to and after World War II.
Soccer
The playing surface is large enough for use in international soccer matches, and it was a venue for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In five matches, attendance averaged over 60,000 per match. In 1996, Olympic soccer matches in both the men's and women's competitions 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.[3]
The stadium was the home of Orlando City S.C., a soccer team in the USL Pro league. In 2013, the investment group that owns that club was awarded an expansion team in Major League Soccer. Orlando City FC is building their own soccer-specific stadium, but will play at the Citrus Bowl until Orlando City Stadium is ready some time in 2015.
The last soccer event held at the Citrus Bowl before its renovation was an international friendly between the United States and Brazil. The U.S. won the match, 4-1, before a crowd of 20,274.[4]
1994 FIFA World Cup matches
| Dat | Time (EDT) | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round | Spectators |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994-06-19 | 12.30 | .svg.png){kind=small} Belgium | 1–0 |  Morocco | Group F | 61,219 |
| 1994-06-24 | 12.30 |  Mexico | 2–1 |  Republic of Ireland | Group E | 60,790 |
| 1994-06-25 | 12.30 | Belgium | 1–0 |  Netherlands | Group F | 62,387 |
| 1994-06-29 | 12.30 | Morocco | 1–2 | Netherlands | Group F | 60,578 |
| 1994-07-04 | 12.00 | Netherlands | 2–0 | Republic of Ireland | Round of 16 | 61,355 |
Concerts
On April 14, 1979, the "Tangerine Bowl" hosted the Florida World Music Festival. The concert was commonly known as "Florrida Jam", named after previous festivals in other states like California Jam and Texxas Jam. The spelling of Florida used two R's like the Texxas Jam that used two X's and preceded it. Acts included Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, Brownsville Station and Blackfoot. Ted Nugent joined Aerosmith on stage during their encore and played a couple of songs with the band.
It was also the only venue where Van Halen and The Rolling Stones played together live, which occurred in October 1981.
Metallica and Guns N' Roses brought the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour to the venue on September 2, 1992, with Faith No More as their opening act.
Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw brought their Brothers of the Sun Tour to the Citrus Bowl in 2012.
Other events
The Citrus Bowl was the site of two Billy Graham Crusades, the most recent of which took place in 1983.
During the 1996 Summer Olympics, it hosted some of the football preliminaries.[5]
Drum Corps International has held its annual World Championships at the Citrus Bowl four times in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2003
The Feld Entertainment-promoted Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam shows held there every year featured a track similar to the one at Sam Boyd Stadium in 2008 and 2009. The 2014 Monster Jam event on January 25 was the last event held at the Citrus Bowl before its renovation.
The Corporate 5K Orlando road race has been based at the stadium for several years.
The AMA Supercross Series holds an annual spring event.
The Citrus Bowl was the site of WWE WrestleMania XXIV
Future
By 2005, Orlando-area government officials and University of Central Florida officials expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the facility, which led UCF to consider relocating, or spend considerable expense to upgrade the facility. While UCF was the primary leasing tenant for the facility, it received minimal revenue from football games. In addition, the stadium's capacity was seen as too large for UCF, leaving the stadium an appearance of being empty with attendance of as much as 30,000–40,000 people per game. UCF's all-time attendance record was 51,978 for the 2005 C-USA Championship Game versus Tulsa. The stadium is located over 10 miles (16 km) from the university's main campus, with a travel time of up to a half hour due to traffic. UCF officials made the decision to leave the Citrus Bowl and to construct a new on-campus stadium called Bright House Networks Stadium, which opened for the 2007 season.
City of Orlando officials are exploring a stadium refurbishment project. In 2004, the Capital One 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 to Jacksonville. The key reasons for losing the bids are the lack of modern luxury boxes, bench seating, and capacity.
The hopes for the Citrus Bowl became reality when, on September 29, 2006, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced an agreement on a $175-million renovation 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.[6] The Orlando/Orange County Interlocal Agreement was approved by the Orlando City Council on August 6, 2007.
In 2010 the natural grass surface was replaced with AstroTurf Gameday Grass 3D after the 2009 Champs Sports Bowl and 2010 Capital One Bowl were marred by poor field conditions that led to two football player injuries.
Reconstruction (2014)
It was announced in May 2013 that the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium would undergo a reconstruction during 2014, at a cost of less than US$200 million. The stadium's upper tiers will be salvaged, but the remainder of the stadium will be demolished. In the reconstructed stadium, there will be a new lower tier, new concessions and restrooms, and a new exterior facade. The reconstruction will take place from February to November of 2014.
As part of the reconstruction, Tinker Field was torn down to make room for the new facade.
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, which Coach Fox led during the series' final 2 seasons (1995–1997). The change, which coincided with a production move to Disney-MGM Studios, reflected the real-life expansion team, the Jacksonville Jaguars.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.floridacitrussports.com/stadium.aspx
- ↑ "GET 2014 SEASON TICKETS TODAY TO GUARANTEE SEAT IN 2015!". Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ↑ Guadalajara 2–1 Deportivo Cali
- ↑ http://www.ussoccer.com/news/womens-national-team/2013/11/131110-wntvbra-report.aspx
- ↑ 1996 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 1. p. 539.
- ↑ http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-magic09292006,0,1078507.story
External links
| Events and tenants | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by first stadium ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex |
Home of Orlando City Soccer Club 2011 – 2013 2015 |
Succeeded by ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex Orlando City Stadium |
| Preceded by Pro Player Stadium |
Home of Russell Athletic Bowl 2001 – present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by first stadium Florida Field |
Home of Capital One Bowl 1947 – 1972 1974 – present |
Succeeded by Florida Field current |
| Preceded by Memorial Stadium (Wichita Falls) |
Host of the NCAA Division I-AA National Championship Game 1979 |
Succeeded by Hughes Stadium |
| Preceded by Rich Stadium Camp Randall Stadium |
Host of the Drum Corps International World Championship 1996 – 1998 2003 |
Succeeded by Camp Randall Stadium Invesco Field at Mile High |
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