Florida Classic football game to stay in Orlando

The Florida Blue Florida Classic will keep its home in Orlando after an extension by the colleges.

The major college football rivalry game between Daytona Beach-based Bethune Cookman University and Tallahassee-based Florida A&M University will stay in Orlando through the 2026 season.

The Florida Classic Consortium made up of leadership from both colleges and the Orlando-based Florida Citrus Sports, which oversees events at Camping World Stadium, finalized the agreement this week.

Orlando has been the permanent home of the game since 1997 and the 25th edition of the matchup in the city is scheduled for Nov. 19. The game and events in the week leading up are seen as a big economic driver, with an estimated economic impact of roughly $30 million per year and average annual game attendance of 60,000 people.

Why this matters: Sporting events generate economic impact through the creation of jobs and from associated spending at hotels, restaurants and other businesses.

The event is not only important for its history and the economic impact it brings, it also is a key part of a greater strategy to build upon the events at Camping World Stadium, Steve Hogan, CEO of Florida Citrus Sports told Orlando Business Journal. Being able to keep those longstanding business partnerships has been key, especially with the sports business industry still recovering from the negative implications brought on by Covid-19.

"What I would call 'tentpole' events like the Florida Blue Florida Classic are critical so that the one-off opportunities the destination gets to bid on can be icing on the cake, but you need the cake first, and the cake is every bit the Florida Blue Florida Classic, the bowl games, Monster Jam has been for so many years," Hogan said. "Some of these big tentpole, tourism-driven events you want to keep. When you have something for two decades, you can take it for granted, and the community has not done that."

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Jim Carchidi

The two NCAA Division 1 FCS programs had their first matchup in 1925 and Florida A&M has the edge 45-24-1 in all matchups between the two teams before the 2022 edition. In addition to the game, the halftime show features performances from the Florida A&M Marching 100 and Bethune-Cookman's Marching Wildcats, which serves as a main draw for many spectators.

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Will Brown

Since 1997, roughly 1.5 million people in total have attended the game since it moved to Orlando. It is one of the only Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) rivalry games by the two participating universities.

Meanwhile, events downtown help keep local businesses busy.

For example, Justin Williams, general manager with the Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando in downtown, previously told OBJ a busy schedule of events at venues like the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts spells more growth for hotel business.

"I have a saying that Orlando starts downtown. We have world-class, award-winning venues, two major league sports teams and an XFL football team. Our arts and entertainment are a draw for people who want to work, play and stay. We are a city that embraces diversity, this embrace is attractive to visitors," he said.

Orlando still is working to recover much of the event traffic it lost during the Covid-19 pandemic. The city's event venues — which includes the Amway Center and Camping World Stadium — hosted over 250 events that drew 397,977 during the city's fiscal 2021, according to the city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

In comparison, the city's fiscal 2019 — the last time event attendance was not shaken by Covid — had 289 events which drew 1.97 million people

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