It's official: Orlando is getting an NFL team – if only for one season.
At its annual league meeting in Phoenix, league owners unanimously chose 65,000-seat Camping World Stadium as the Jacksonville Jaguars' temporary home for the 2027 season while their home stadium undergoes a $1.4 billion renovation.
Orlando-area officials, including Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, joined a public watch party in front of city hall on Tuesday to report the decision live with a DJ and two free food trucks.
On a 16-foot screen, Jaguars owner Shahid Khan announced the news, to confetti cannons, smoke machines and a chorus of cheers from the several dozen attendees. Cheerleaders and a drum line quickly filed out from city hall to join the festivities.
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"We think the end result will be not only great for Jaguar fans, but very positive for those that come visit Orlando from not just Jaguar fans but visiting fans," Jaguars president Mark Lamping said. "And we couldn't be more excited about this transition here and are looking forward to being there tomorrow."
Orlando is likely to land seven or eight NFL games in 2027, including in-state matchups featuring Tampa Bay at Jacksonville and Miami at Jacksonville.
Based on the NFL scheduling formula, other Jaguars visitors will be the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints, plus an AFC West and NFC West team to be decided. Up to three of those games could be played internationally.
The Jaguars will practice at their facility in Jacksonville each week before making the 150-mile trip south for the games.
“I look at it as an exciting opportunity,” Jaguars general manager James Gladstone said. “You have a chance to breach a region of the state that you otherwise wouldn’t have the luxury of doing.”
The Jaguars announced plans in February to play consecutive home games in London this fall, with ongoing construction reducing capacity at EverBank Stadium to 42,507 for the 2026 season.
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The renovation is expected to be complete for the 2028 season.
Jacksonville started searching for a 2027 temporary home when it unveiled plans for the “stadium of the future” in 2023. The Jags also considered Daytona International Speedway and Florida Field in Gainesville.
Camping World Stadium solidified its front-runner status after two major actions by Orange County.
At the end of 2024, the county commission approved $400 million in tourism development taxes to overhaul and modernize the stadium. Orange levies a 6% tourism development tax on hotel rooms and short-term rentals to help fund tourism projects. That project, expected to be completed by summer 2027, will bring the facility up to NFL standards.
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And last spring, commissioners allocated $11 million in tourism development taxes to convince the Jaguars to temporarily relocate to Orlando, expecting to generate about $20 million in local spending per game.
One commissioner, Kelly Martinez Semrad, said she was skeptical that the Jaguars would attract enough tourists to cover the cost. The team's research indicated that it already has a large fan base in Orlando, which could translate to less hotel and short-term rental use than advocates forecast. Semrad ended up casting the only vote against the funding.
For Orlando, hosting the Jaguars — even as a one-year rental — provides the city a chance to showcase its capabilities. It is the largest U.S. media market without an NFL team and has the infrastructure (major airport, hotels, restaurants, nightlife) to handle big events.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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