ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Only Eyewitness News spoke to local leaders about their plans to lure the NFL to Orange County.
Mayor Teresa Jacobs has called the Citrus Bowl, "an NFL-caliber stadium," and was quoted in Forbes magazine as saying, "It's the only NFL-style stadium, without an NFL team, something that we're working on."
Channel 9's Jamie Holmes sat down with Jacobs to get more insight into her comments.
The Citrus Bowl recently underwent $200 million in renovations and has already been christened by 60,000 screaming Orlando City Soccer fans and will get some satisfaction from the Rolling Stones in June, but is there a bigger score on the horizon?
Poll: If Jacksonville's team was to relocate to Orlando, should they change their name from the Jaguars?
"Now we have a stadium that can accommodate NFL football. The only thing we don't have is a team," said Jacobs.
Bill Dymond, the former president of Florida Citrus Sports and managing partner of the Lowndes Law Firm, said they need to first land some NFL preseason games and impress the league and owners with what Orlando has to offer.
"Largely untapped marketplace in central Florida, in Orlando," he said. "Eighteenth largest TV market, second largest market outside Los Angeles without a franchise, so I think Orlando is on the radar."
While there has not been mention of any particular teams, there has been speculation for years about the Jacksonville Jaguars possibly moving.
"The answer at this point is no," said Jacobs. "At this point, there is not a particular target, as much as it is that we want to make it well known that we have a stadium."
Both the mayor and Dymond are being clear that there is no reason a city this size can't and should not have an NFL team.
"Why wouldn't the NFL want to be here?" said Dymond.
Both Jacobs and Citrus Sports said they realize more luxury boxes and suites would have to be added. They said it's a conversation they're willing to have.