Orlando will be the host city for one more postseason college bowl game, because two just is not enough for the happiest place on earth. According to a report by The Orlando Sentinel, the Orlando Sports Foundation successfully pitched the concept for a new bowl game, the Cure Bowl, starting in the 2015 season. The game reportedly will be played in Bright House Networks Stadium, the home stadium for UCF and the mission for the bowl game is to raise funds for cancer-related charities.
A news conference is expected to take place Wednesday to unveil the bowl game, but The Orlando Sentinel reports the Sun Belt Conference and American Athletic Conference appear to have interest in aligning with the bowl game. Neith conference commissioner, Karl Benson of the Sun Belt or Mike Aresco of the AAC, has strayed far from the conversation. Aresco is expected to announce a new bowl partner for the American on Wednesday, so the timing fits the equation.
“It hasn’t been a secret that the Sun Belt has indicated a desire to be involved with a fourth guaranteed game,” Benson told The Orlando Sentinel. “I don’t think it’s been a secret that there’s been an organization in Orlando that has attempted to launch a game.”
The game will not be managed by the same group that runs and operates the Capital One Bowl and Russel Athletic Bowl, both of which are played in the Citrus Bowl, although it will be interesting to see how these three games overlap in the postseason schedule in future years. Florida Citrus Sports, the group that manages the two existing bowl games, has been hoping to improve Orlando’s standing as a postseason bowl destination in the age of the College Football Playoff. Improvements to the Citrus Bowl would be help, but any success this new postseason game brings to the table could eventually be a benefit for the city of Orlando’s chances of one day hosting a playoff game.