History of the Citrus Bowl one of Florida's best football stadiums located in
Orlando, FL.
The Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium was first constructed in 1936, with seating
for only 8,900 people. The first annual bowl game was held in 1947, for the
benefit of the group called the Elks and was called the Tangerine Bowl. In
1967, the Stadium was expanded to 18,000 seats and in 1974, additional seating
was added to bring the total seating capacity to 48,000+. In January 1989, the
transformation of the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium into a facility of the 1990's
began at the cost of $38 million. Several improvements were made including an
additional disabled elevator; additional disabled seating, electrical and phone
upgrades and a state-of-the-art playing field. Most recently, new escalator
systems were installed for easy accessibility to seating.
The Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium is the home of the annual
Capital One Bowl, Tangerine Bowl, Walt Disney World Florida Classic and
University of Central Florida football. It was also the site of five 1994 World
Cup Soccer games and 1996 Olympic Soccer - first/second rounds. The Stadium has
been host to big time rock concerts including such bands and singers as
The Rolling
Stones, Genesis, Pink Floyd, George Michael,
Paul
McCartney,
The Who,
Guns n Roses,
Billy Joel and
Elton John and
the Eagles.
The Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium is owned and operated by the City of Orlando and
is part of the Orlando Centroplex, which includes the
T.D. Waterhouse Centre,
Bob Carr Performing Arts Center and the Expo Center.
The stadium turf is 419 Bermuda Grass.
Stadium Construction Dates & Capacity
1936 10,000
1952 12,000
1968 17,000
1976 52,000
1989 65,438 to date
Capacity increases to 70,000 with temporary bleachers in north end zone.
Stadium Name Changes
Year Name
1936 Orlando Stadium
1947 Tangerine Bowl
1976 Citrus Bowl
1977 Orlando Stadium
1983 Florida Citrus Bowl
Attendance records
73,358 Walt Disney World Florida Classic - Florida A&M vs. Bethune Cookman
November 22, 2003
72,940 CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl - Florida vs. Penn State January 1, 1998
72,868 Texaco Star Classic - Florida State vs. Notre Dame November 12, 1994
72,456 CompUSA Florida Citrus Bowl - Penn State vs. Tennessee January 1, 1994
72,328 Florida Citrus Bowl - Georgia Tech vs. Nebraska January 1, 1991
*Attendance figures listed include college football games only.
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