When some of the top college football players from the American Athletic Conference and Sun Belt conference meet in Orlando this December, it will be on brand new territory. Last month, the Orlando Sports Foundation announced that the 2019 Cure Bowl will be played at Orlando City Stadium. This will be the first non-soccer sporting event to take place at the venue since it opened in 2017.
“We are excited about the Orlando Sports Foundation’s partnership with Orlando City Stadium and the unique atmosphere that will be created for the Cure Bowl,” CEO of the Orlando Sports Foundation and Executive Director of the Cure Bowl Alan Gooch says. “I can’t wait to see a college football game in Orlando City Stadium. We believe all fans will have a great experience and this will help us to continue our mission of bringing teams together to find a cure for cancer.”
The move will allow for a game day block party, featuring music, entertainment and activities, to be added to the list of Cure Bowl festivities. The event will begin at Church Street and end with the March 2 Cure, an organized walk to the game at Orlando City Stadium. Each participating team’s band will participate in the march alongside fans, cancer survivors and supporters decked out in pink gear.
“These events will help drive revenue to Downtown Orlando business owners while enhancing the experience of Cure Bowl attendees on game day,” Gooch says.
Since its inception, the Cure Bowl has been used as a platform to raise awareness for cancer research and recognize individuals who are fighting or who have survived breast cancer. In the past four years, $3.6 million has been raised for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the largest private funder of breast cancer research worldwide. Local BCRF researcher, Dr. Annette Khaled from the UCF College of Medicine, received over $1.1 million of the funds distributed to support her efforts.
“We are very excited to welcome the Cure Bowl to Orlando City Stadium as the first non-soccer sporting event to be hosted in our beautiful venue,” Orlando City SC Chief Revenue Officer Chris Gallagher says. “Through flagship events like the Cure Bowl, the Orlando Sports Foundation works tirelessly to raise funds for cancer research, and we are happy to do what we can to support such a meaningful initiative. We can’t wait to see a new kind of football on our pitch this December.”
The fifth annual Cure Bowl will take place on Dec. 21, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.