Camping World Stadium releases new renderings showing how it wants to use tourism tax dollars

ORLANDO, Fla. - Camping World Stadium has just released new renderings of what the facility would look like if its funding push goes through.

Florida Citrus Sports, the event management nonprofit that oversees Camping World Stadium, is asking the Orange County Commission for $400 million in tourism development tax dollars to fund that project.

"We’re so close," said Steve Hogan, the CEO of Florida Citrus Sports. "We’re so excited. It seems like there’s a lot of support for it."

Among other things, the renovations would connect all levels of the stadium with a 360-degree concourse, remove and replace the upper terrace decks, and add a 100,000-square-foot multipurpose space on the campus.

It’s something people voiced support for at Tuesday’s Commission meeting.

"You’re investing in more than a stadium," Orlando District 3 Commissioner Regina Hill told the Orange County Board of Commissioners. "You’re investing into the people in the West Side of Orlando." 

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"We’re competing with Las Vegas, we’re competing with New York, we’re competing with London," said Peter Scott of the American Pet Products Association during the public comment period of Tuesday’s meeting.

Bridget Williams, the former principal of Jones High School, told the Commissioners, "I am simply here this morning to give my support and well-deserved thank you to Citrus Sports."

Hogan says with the renovations they’re planning for Camping World, Orlando won’t get passed over for showing the way it has been.

"We don't have enough sideline capacity. So when we fix that in this renovation, we should be back in that music business," said Hogan. "As our building is completed, we think we'll be very competitive not only with Tampa, but Jacksonville and Miami and Atlanta and, anywhere else."

Florida Citrus Sports says the stadium brought in over 900,000 people last year, and two-thirds of them came from outside Central Florida.

Hogan says those numbers would get even higher if the County funds the renovations. He estimates they will be around a million people a year, and have up to $800 million in annual economic impact. 

"We're really proud of that, very happy with it," said Hogan. "Probably more proud, though, of the investments in the neighborhoods around Camping World Stadium, affordable housing, health and wellness education. Those are the things that really matter."

The Orange County Commission hasn’t made any decisions yet about whether to fund the stadium. The Commissioners say they want to make a decision about Visit Orlando’s funding first, before considering how else to allocate the tourism development tax dollars.

The next meeting is November 28.