Florida Citrus Bowl tickets

The Florida Citrus Bowl, formerly Orlando Stadium, Tangerine Bowl and the Citrus Bowl, is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, USA, built for football which currently seats around 70,000 people. Its main events are the Capital One Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl, and Monster Jam. It also hosts the annual Florida Classic between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman, and the MEAC/SWAC Challenge. The Citrus Bowl is also primary home of the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League. From 1979-2006, 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. The stadium seats 65,438 people and can be increased to over 70,000 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. The 2003 game held the stadium's all-time record for attendance of 73,358 until 2008. WrestleMania XXIV broke the record with an attendance of 74,635. Numerous concerts have been held at the stadium, including The Who, Genesis, Pink Floyd, George Michael, Paul McCartney, Guns N' Roses, Billy Joel/Elton John, Bob Seger, Fleetwood Mac & The Eagles. The Monster Jam shows held there every year feature a track similar to the one at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Corporate 5K Orlando road race has been based at the stadium for several years.

About Florida Citrus Bowl

The stadium opened in 1936, with a capacity of 8,900. The first college football game was played on January 1, 1947. Catawba defeated Maryville 31–6. Two thousand seats were added in 1952. Five thousand more seats were added in 1968, along with the first press box. From 1974–76 the capacity was raised to 52,000. The current 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.

On March 21, 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, and Central Florida Sports Commission President John Saboor held a press conference at the Orlando City Hall Rotunda announcing that the Citrus Bowl will host WrestleMania XXIV on March 30, 2008. Buddy Dyer and John Saboor stated that after six months of negotiations with WWE, the Commission managed to successfully recruit the 24th edition of the annual event to the city of Orlando. World Wrestling Entertainment officials were in Orlando at the beginning of the year to tour the Orlando Centroplex.

WWE and the City of Orlando planned to host festivities that spanned over a five day period within the central Florida region bringing numerous branding opportunities and television coverage, leading up to the event at the Citrus Bowl. Despite the risks of an outdoor show, WWE chairman Vince McMahon had announced that the "show will go on, regardless of the weather." The Central Florida Sports Commission estimated WrestleMania XXIV would pump $25 million into the local economy while creating numerous jobs, and bring around 60,000 visitors to the city for the event.

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 Tangerine Stadium. 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), and the XFL's Orlando Rage played there in 2001.

Several National Football League preseason football games have been held at the stadium, most recently between the Buccaneers and 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 Citrus Bowl is still used for professional football by the UFL's Florida Tuskers, who played 2 of their inaugural season's 3 home games at the stadium. The varsity football team from Jones High School also 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.