The 2019 AutoNation Cure Bowl will be played at Orlando City Stadium, the Orlando Sports Foundation announced on Thursday.
Orlando City Stadium is the home of Orlando City of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the Orlando Pride of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
“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 stated. “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 Cure Bowl began in 2015 and has been played at Camping World Stadium through the 2018 season. This season’s game is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019 and it will be televised by CBS Sports Network at 2:30pm ET.
Teams from the American Athletic Conference and the Sun Belt Conference will square off in the game. If one of the conferences cannot fill its spot, the bowl has a secondary tie-in with the Liberty Flames.
The 2019 Cure Bowl will be the first non-soccer sporting event to be played at Orlando City Stadium since its opening in 2017. The stadium has a seating capacity of 25,500.
Announced attendance for the Cure Bowl in 2015 was 18,536 (San Jose State-Georgia State), and the highest attendance was 27,213 in 2016 (Arkansas State-UCF). Overall, the four Cure Bowl games have averaged 21,100 per season.
“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 said. “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.”
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