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Citrus Bowl History
The Citrus Bowl in Orlando is one of college football's signature events, a burst of Florida sunshine on New Year's Day. The game, traditionally played on January 1, usually pits an SEC team against a representative from the Big Ten.
The event was born in 1947 as the Tangerine Bowl, with the Catawba Indians beating the Maryville Scots, 31-6. The initial sponsors were members of a local Elks Lodge who each put up $100 to cover expenses. Proceeds went to the Harry Anna Children's Hospital, which is why the bowl would come to be known as the "Little Bowl with the Big Heart." The stadium, built in 1936 under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration, accommodated just 8,900 fans.
Today the stadium — now called Camping World Stadium — is a fully modern, 65,000-capacity facility, and the Citrus Bowl is a centerpiece of the bowl season. While it lacks the pageantry of the Rose Bowl on the other side of the country, the game is rich with the sport's history, both bad and good. The unbeaten 1955 Hillsdale College football team refused an invitation to the bowl after officials said the school's four black players would not be allowed to play. Likewise, University of Buffalo players in 1958 elected to skip the game because its two black players would have been kept off the field. But by 1966, the color line had been lifted, and Morgan State became the first historically black college to play in the bowl. The Bears went on to beat the West Chester Golden Rams, 14-6.
Other memorable games include the 1996 Citrus Bowl, in which fourth-ranked Tennessee beat fourth-ranked Ohio State, 20-14, and the 1969 edition, in which Toledo hung 56 points on Davidson, a bowl record that stands today.
Ticketmaster did great with this event. Easy purchase and all the information needed to get into the venue and where to park as well. Definitely a good deal all around and I’d do it again.
My family of 4 and I had a great time at the game. Stadium is really nice for an older venue. Solid food and drink options plus easy parking. One thing that would be nice to have is more restaurants/bars around the stadium for before and after the game. There really isn’t much. Overall it was a really fun day.
Poor food, extra game hype was decently boring, no challenges for fans like the most cheez-it packages tossed into a fake oven or something else creative. Of course the game was really poor. The bands were the star of the show and were seated at the same end. Who thought this was a great idea has never been in a stadium with bands. They should have been more separated. Bands were definitely the highlight of the day.
The stadium is in a very sketchy area. It has 0 accommodations compared to some of the best facilities throughout the country and playing it during the day as opposed to the regular cheeze it bowl being a night game is a slap in the face. No replay because it’s old and outdated. You couldn’t take your kids down and enjoy the pregame stuff as it was a nasty area of town.
The tickets we picked were good seats and we enjoyed the game. But I purchased a Game Book with the tickets and should have been able to pickup the book when checking in. However, none of the staff could tell me where to get it. I asked multiple staff & supervisors. So I lost my money and don't have a momento.
Seating was great. When you want to have a competition/game on the bigboard need to make sure spelling is correct.
Really enjoyed the atmosphère and activities and game...it is an older stadium which is evident the Speaker System was hortible could not understand what the announcers was saying...been there twice...A new stadium needs to be built
getting around with ADA individual was very difficult, not all individuals were advised or aware of what to do. when ordering tickets online it was impossible to locate where to find ADA seating, this made it impossible to sit with the family as originally planned. Vendors were sneaky when it came to getting there tips and entered the tip in themselves rather than the individual entering in the amount to be given.
Worst seats ever, due to my ignorance. Paid $110 each for what i thought were good seats. Only way to see game was big screen. After half time moved to $50 seat section and could finally see the game and players. Glad my team won but still angry over price of terrible seats. GO CATS!
Great endzone view if the field. Seats were comfortable for this exciting game! Needed to have Parking options attached to the ticket purchase. Didnt like to have to park a long distance away.
As a big blue victor (and knowing how some of those SEC tilts can be), I found it very refreshing to have won a highly competitive game and the other team's fans were deflated but also very complimentary and gracious in defeat. I kind of wish they were all like that. I know the game was more or less an exhibition but the energy on the field and in the stadium didn't support that. A beautiful day and a great game. Orlando logistics were spot on and accommodated the amount of foot and vehicle traffic very well. The only thing I could point to negatively were the concessions. The poor workers were overwhelmed and barely had any product to serve the patrons. It was pretty disappointing from that perspective. Regardless, my group had a great time. GBB!
Very well organized Lots of fun pregame activities Everything went smoothly
This was our second visit to the Citrus Bowl in Camping World Stadium, Orlando Fl. We enjoyed the trip and access to the stadium is easy.
We had a great time! We really liked the environment and Camping World Stadium is a great facility.
After paying to see the game live you shouldn't be forced to watch commercials while in the stands! Too many efforts to sell things during game timeouts.
Game was great. Our team won! The Camping World stadium was a really great venue. Parking at the high school next to the stadium worked out fine. An easy walk and very easy when leaving the area.
We had great seats and were treated to a great game. This is our eco drive Citrus Bowl and both game experiences have been great. The stadium itself is aging and needs updating. While the seats were great, the sound system was terrible - could not understand announcements, etc. The lines were long at the concession stands and the staff had issues with electronic payments. Traffic flow before and after the game wasn’t bad but there was no direction to the lot exit (different than the entrance). Overall we enjoyed ourselves but it is a 5 star event in a 3 star facility.
During COVID the seating could have been spaced out more since it was not at max capacity. There was very little standing in line!
Enjoyed the Citrus Bowl game. Hated the venue (Camping World Stadium). Facility was REALLY run down. Concession booths were terribly run, hot dogs were cold, beer was not very cold. Bathroom cleanliness was atrocious.
I do this every Year regardless of who's playing its a Yearly thing with my Work place at least 3 to 5 peeps each year Amazzzzzziiinnnggg
