Upcoming Citrus Bowl dates
Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.
Citrus Bowl seats: chase the shade, then the yard line
For the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, the best overall seat is on the west sideline at field level, sections 129 to 139, between the 20-yard lines. Camping World Stadium runs north to south with no overhanging decks or canopies, so shade comes only from the stadium's own structure, and the west stands fall into their own shadow first. East-side seats offer the same view in full sun and are often the better value if you come prepared.
Kickoff for the next edition is noon Eastern on Saturday, January 2, 2027, with ABC televising. The matchup draws one school from the Big Ten and one from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), under a Cheez-It sponsorship that began in 2023.
Field, plaza and terrace sections on each side
Seats are grouped into three tiers: field level (100s), plaza level (sections with a P prefix) and terrace level (200s). Shade guides list them by side:
- East sideline: field 103–113, plaza P02–P14, terrace 201–215. In direct sun from early afternoon all the way to dusk.
- West sideline: field 129–139, plaza P28–P40, terrace 227–241. Shade creeps in as the game goes on.
- Ends: every section number that falls between those ranges, including plaza sections near P18–P24 at the south goal line.
Choosing among them
- Sections 129–139. Top pick for view plus comfort.
- East field and plaza. The same sightline facing the sun. A hat, sunglasses and sunscreen make it a sound value choice.
- Plaza P18–P24, south end. Shade guides rate it the surest shelter from an early-afternoon sun. You give up a sideline angle, and the main video board ends up behind you.
- High seats. Least in demand and most disrupted by the rebuild. If you go up, keep between the 20s.
Front rows, bench sides and a stadium in transition
Row 1 through the first handful of rows put your eyes at sideline height, where standing players and staff block the view. Climb a few rows and the field opens up. Fans tend to gather behind their team's bench, so if sitting with your own crowd matters, check bench assignments after the matchup is announced.
The stadium itself keeps changing. The city-owned building in West Lakes, just west of downtown, debuted in late 1936 as Orlando Stadium and has also carried the Tangerine Bowl and Florida Citrus Bowl names. Its lower bowl was torn out and rebuilt in a 2014 project costing roughly 207 million dollars, which added about 41,000 chairbacks and roomier concourses. Wikipedia gives a football capacity of 60,219 (65,194 when expanded).
A second, larger project followed: Orange County committed 400 million dollars of tourist development tax money in January 2024. Out go the upper decks built in the 1980s; in come new east, west and south upper decks, a North Endzone Tower that encloses the bowl, updated suites and terraces, and a fieldhouse of 100,000 square feet. According to Florida Citrus Sports, the rebuilt upper areas will have modern chairback seats. Until the work is done, section numbers, capacity and premium areas may shift, so trust the seat map on your listing over an older chart.
Big Ten against SEC: selection, dates and demand
By the bowl's own account, it gets the best Big Ten and SEC teams left after the playoff's six major bowls (Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange, Cotton, Peach) take theirs. That usually means two ranked teams from the sport's largest leagues, with fans who can drive or take a short flight to Central Florida. Teams are chosen after the playoff fills its bracket, so the pairing usually comes out in early December. Tie-ins get renegotiated, and earlier decades saw partnerships with the ACC, the MAC and the Southern Conference, so confirm each season's pairing.
The date has moved in the playoff era. The long-standing default was a 1 p.m. Eastern kickoff on January 1, bumped a day whenever New Year's landed on a Sunday:
- January 2, 2023: moved off a Sunday New Year's Day.
- January 1, 2024: the traditional date.
- December 31 in both 2024 and 2025: played on New Year's Eve.
- Next up: Saturday, January 2, 2027, at noon.
Demand depends on who plays. An in-state school or two schools whose fans travel in numbers will thin out listings within days of the announcement, and the shaded west side empties first.
FanFest, theme parks and holiday hotel rooms
Published events include FanFest on December 31 plus pregame hospitality packages; the bowl fills in specifics as kickoff nears. Because Orlando draws tourists in huge numbers, many fans build a family trip around the theme parks. That puts holiday-week hotel rooms under pressure, so book early and expect heavy traffic on the interstates near the attractions.
Reaching One Citrus Bowl Place
- Where: One Citrus Bowl Place, ZIP 32805, west of downtown Orlando.
- Buses and shuttles: routes 20, 21 and 36 run nearby, and the venue publishes shuttle and parking details for each event on its directions page.
- Bags and entry: the stadium sets these rules, and they may change during construction. Check the stadium's A–Z guide for the latest.
- Heat: January sun in Central Florida still bites on a clear day. Drink water, especially on the east side.
Reserved Seat orders include free shipping. Schedules and announcements come from the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl and by Camping World Stadium.
Tangerine to Cheez-It, with a 1998 record crowd
Kickoff of the very first game, then named the Tangerine Bowl, came on New Year's Day 1947; the bowl bills itself as the nation's seventh-oldest. Its operator, Florida Citrus Sports, is a nonprofit event organization that also runs the Pop-Tarts Bowl in the same stadium. Its names over the years:
- 1947–1982: Tangerine Bowl.
- 1983–1993: Florida Citrus Bowl.
- 1994–2000: sponsored by CompUSA, then Ourhouse.com.
- 2003–2014: Capital One Bowl.
- 2015–2018: Buffalo Wild Wings, then Overton's as presenting sponsor.
- 2019–2022: Vrbo.
- 2023 onward: Cheez-It.
Only once has the game left Orlando: for the December 1973 game, which moved to Gainesville's Florida Field.
Games that stand out
- 1991: Georgia Tech beat Nebraska 45–21 to complete an 11–0–1 season, good for the 1990 UPI national championship.
- 1998: Florida and Penn State drew 72,940, still the record.
- 2008: Michigan topped Florida 41–35.
- 2023: LSU routed Purdue 63–7, the most points and the widest margin in bowl history.
Recent results: Tennessee shut out Iowa 35–0 in January 2024, Illinois beat South Carolina 21–17 in December 2024, and Texas beat Michigan 41–27 in December 2025. Attendance since 2018 has sat between roughly 43,000 and 60,000, except for the COVID-restricted 2021 edition, which drew 13,039.
Frequently asked questions
Which side of Camping World Stadium gets shade?
West. Those stands shade over during the afternoon, while the east side bakes until sundown. For an early-afternoon kickoff, the south end zone plaza (roughly P18 to P24) is the most reliable shade.
When is the next Cheez-It Citrus Bowl?
Noon Eastern on January 2, 2027, a Saturday, with ABC carrying it.
What sections are on the west sideline?
Shade guides place 129–139 at field level, P28–P40 at plaza level and 227–241 at terrace level on the west side.
Who plays in the Citrus Bowl?
A Big Ten school faces an SEC school, each chosen after the playoff bowls make their picks. Contracts change over time, so check the matchup every year.
Will construction affect my seat?
It may. Orange County approved a major renovation in January 2024 that replaces the upper decks, so section numbers and premium areas can change. Use the seat map on your listing.
Was the Citrus Bowl ever called something else?
Several times. Tangerine Bowl was the original name, Florida Citrus Bowl replaced it in 1983, and it was the Capital One Bowl from 2003 through 2014.