Orlando pushes to host Army-Navy game
Camping World Stadium has hosted its share of spectacular sporting events over the years, from World Cup matches to the NFL’s Pro Bowl and WrestleMania.
But if Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan has his way, the venue could someday welcome the unique pageantry and tradition of an Army-Navy football game.
“When you think of events, I love that Orlando can have the opportunity to be a part of something that’s special,” Hogan said during an interview with the Orlando Sentinel Wednesday. “The Army-Navy game would be an experience for people in Central Florida and the people who have traditionally attended the game in Philadelphia or Baltimore.”
The football rivalry between the two service academies began in 1890 and their annual meeting has blossomed into one of the must-see events of the college football season.
The game has typically been held in the Northeast, rotating between the New York City and Baltimore areas, but Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field has served as the primary host site in recent years.
Orlando was one of several cities to receive a Request for Proposal (RFP) from the schools during the last bidding window, but scheduling conflicts made it impossible to apply. FCS was honored to be contacted and hopes to apply in the next window to host the game between 2023-28.
“It drew my eyes to that’s something now based on the calendar and how it fits with tourism here in this community, that you’ve got to circle hard and be aggressive to go pursue and I think we will,” said Hogan, who was humbled and excited by the chance to one day host the iconic game.
“We, as a town, would be poised now to be aggressive to say what year, then if that came back around for 2023-28. It would be the first time since going somewhere like Pasadena in the 1980s if you would be able to secure a game like that. Now is the time for us.”
Six states and 17 different venues have shared in the history of the Army-Navy game, including a stop in Chicago’s Soldier Field (1926) and the Rose Bowl (1983) in Pasadena. But the game has never been held anywhere South of Landover, Md.
Lincoln Financial Field is set to host the game in 2020 and 2022 with a brief trip to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. in 2021.
“I believe that will come around for RFP very soon,” said Hogan.
Orlando is no stranger to hosting regular season neutral-site clashes.
Florida State-Ole Miss (2016), AlabamaLouisville (2018) and Florida-Miami (2019) have been part of the Camping World Kickoff series since its inception in 2016. The Seminoles will return to Orlando in 2023 to take on LSU.
The venue has also hosted another college football rivalry since 1997, the Florida Classic, which features Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman.
The stadium also hosts
World and Citrus bowls.
Navy played a neutral-site game with Notre Dame at the then-Citrus Bowl in 2000.
And while Florida Citrus Sports continues to work toward securing more neutralsite matchups like FSU-LSU, the opportunity the Camping to host a game like Army-Navy is something that’s unique.
Hogan said if Orlando can lock up the bid to be the host city for the 2026 World Cup, then that would obviously have an impact as to which events the community would go after that year. The chance to host a regularseason NFL game as the league considers a 17-game schedule also would be big for Orlando.
“I’ve been very open about the fact that we would love Orlando at some point to have an NFL regular-season game,” said Hogan. “I think we should, can and will.”
A decision on any future sites for the Army-Navy game could come as early as this year.
“We’re going to prepare ourselves as if now is the time to start getting your RFP thoughts together,” said Hogan, who admits there are hurdles that need to be cleared, including finding transportation and housing for thousands of cadets and midshipmen who would normally bus a few hours to the game.
“We have a unique hurdle that cities that traditionally host the event do not have,” Hogan said. “When Pasadena last hosted this event, that was a massive hurdle that you had to climb. At that time, they had literally thousands of residents sign up to host middies and cadets. They opened their homes to them and hosted them instead of having to find housing for 8,000 fans.”
But Hogan doesn’t believe those challenges should stop the city from going after a unique opportunity such as this one.
“Right now is the time to get aggressive about why Orlando would be cool and let’s see where it goes,” he said.