Hallelujah! Camping World Stadium upgrade means Orlando will go after Jaguars, Georgia-Florida and CFP games | Commentary

Running off at the typewriter …

Now that the Orange County Commission has allotted $400 million in tourist tax money to upgrade Camping World Stadium, Orlando is ready to pounce and make a strong bid to become a second home for Jacksonville’s two football franchises — the NFL’s Jaguars and the annual Georgia-Florida college football game.

It’s been reported that the Jaguars and the Georgia-Florida game will likely be moving out of Jacksonville for two seasons (2026-2027) if the city and the Jaguars can soon come to an agreement on a proposed $2 billion stadium renovation.

If it happens, the Jaguars will be looking for a place to play their home games and the Georgia-Florida game would relocate and likely go to the highest bidder.

As Mark Long of the Associated Press wrote several weeks ago, “In 2026, with Georgia scheduled to be the home team, the game likely would land at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with a 50-50 ticket split as usual. The following year (2027), with Florida as the home team, it could end up at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa or Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.”

Steve Hogan, the CEO of Florida Citrus Sports and the man in charge of bringing sporting events to Camping World Stadium, says he believes the upgrades at Camping World Stadium (including rebuilding the upper deck, adding a 100,000-square-foot fieldhouse and various other fan-friendly amenities) will likely be done in time for the Jaguars and Georgia-Florida to play in Orlando for at least one of those seasons — 2027.

“I’ve talked to them [Jaguars] about it,” Hogan said on my radio show Wednesday. “In my opinion, this would be a perfect spot for the Jaguars to play. It would be great to officially be an NFL city. We love hosting the Pro Bowl, but showing the world what we could do by hosting NFL regular-season games would be fun, too.”

As for potentially pursuing the Georgia-Florida game, Hogan said: “If it has to leave Jacksonville temporarily, we’ll be as aggressive as anybody in the country [in bidding] for that game.”

Hogan says he is also closely monitoring the College Football Playoff, which is expanding to 12 teams next season. The first two years (2024-25) of the expanded playoff sites are already set, but Hogan believes starting in 2026 that playoff sites could be up for bid again.

“If they [the College Football Playoff Committee members] crack open the door just a little bit,” Hogan said, “we’re going to do our best to kick it in. There’s a lot to like about Orlando. … And now we’re going to have a doggone good NFL-quality stadium. We won’t have as many suites, but we’ll have everything else. … We’ve had a building in the past that has been a little bit of a disqualifying factor in some cases, but now we’re going to fix that. We’re going to have a building we can be proud of and we won’t have to cringe anymore when we host 70,000 of our friends for Garth Brooks and know that some of them are going to go home unhappy.” …

Short stuff: If you ask me, UCF fans should be giving the thumbs-up to the “Horns-Down” controversy created last week by Texas basketball coach Rodney Terry. Not only did the Knights upset the host Longhorns, but coach Johnny Dawkins’ program may have gained more positive national exposure than ever before when Terry profanely scolded the Knights in the handshake line after a couple of UCF players celebrated by playfully flashing the “Horns-Down” sign after the victory. Terry became a universal laughingstock for being such whiny crybaby while UCF’s victory was lauded by ESPN s Pardon The Interruption, Around The Horn and countless other national TV and radio sports shows. Terry eventually offered a weak apology, but actually UCF should have thanked him for lowering himself while simultaneously elevating the Knights. …

Headline at TheOnion.com: “Fox NFL Sunday’ Producers Worried Broadcast Doesn’t Feature Enough 50-To-90-Year-Old Men Standing Awkwardly.” … Did you see where University of Alabama golfer Nick Dunlap became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson in 1991 but had to forfeit the $1.5-million winner’s check? Don’t blame the NCAA; blame the sacred rules of golf, which disallow amateurs from accepting prize money. What a stupid rule. An Alabama football recruit can make a million bucks from a booster just for signing his scholarship papers, but an Alabama golfer can’t accept $1.5 million that he actually earned by beating some of the best players in the world. …

Can you believe Sunday night’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills on CBS averaged a divisional-round record 50.39 million viewers and was the most-watched program on any network since last year’s Super Bowl? For people like Tony Dungy who say Taylor Swift has become a major distraction to the NFL, I say she’s become a major attraction for the NFL. You go, Tay-Tay! … It’s being reported that Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill has filed for divorce from his wife after only two months. I guess it just goes to show that not even the Cheetah can outrun marital strife. …

In his very first head-coaching stint, former Orlando Magic assistant Adrian Griffin was fired from the Milwaukee Bucks after just 43 games when his team was tied with the second-best record in the league (30-13)? And you thought college football fans were impatient. Compared to the Milwaukee Bucks, Gator Nation has the kindness and patience of Mister Rogers. … I see where Disney World is closing down one of its original attractions — The Country Bear Jamboree — so it can be updated and modernized. Memo to Disney: Some things you just don’t mess with — like Casablanca, Coca-Cola and Country Bear Jamboree. … Udonis Haslem, who spent his entire 20-year career playing for the Miami Heat, got his jersey retired by the team the other night. It just goes to show that you can’t always measure greatness by what shows up in the boxscore. Haslem averaged just 7.5 points and 6.6 rebounds during his career, but it doesn’t matter. The Gators alum was never the face of the franchise, but he was always its heart and soul. … Is Bill Belichick really going to end his career coaching the Falcons? Isn’t that like Springsteen playing his final show at The Last Call Lounge in Yeehaw Junction? … Another headline from TheOnion.com: “Bears GM Focused On Drafting Players Who Can Help Justin Fields Up After Sack.” …

Last word: From late, great American distance runner Steve Prefontaine, who would have turned 73 on Thursday: “It’s not about who’s the best; it’s about who can take the most pain.”