Football in Florida

[MorningGlory]

Hi all. Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, but I had a good look around and couldnt see anywhere else relevant for it.

Ill be in Orlando from June 14-28, with my 9yo son. I was hoping we could maybe see a Buccaneers game while we are there (they are the closest team to Orlando, yes?). Can anyone tell me if the professional teams play at this time of the year?

Thanks

 

[5mins2disney]

Nope, the Superbowl just ended last weekend, and with it, football is over for the season until fall. (SOB... my Chicago Bears lost ! )

You might instead look into catching a professional baseball game instead!

The closest MLB pro team would be the Tampa Bay Devilrays..
http://tampabay.devilrays.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=tb

Not sure who plays at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex... might catch a minor league team / game there too, which would be closer.

 

[ducklite]

Sorry, NFL football season ended last week and training camps don't start until late August or so. BUT on June 15th the Orlando Predators have a home game in Orlando, and many find arena football as exciting as the NFL these days. The Preds are a GREAT (American style) football team who have made it to the plaoffs every year in the history of the team and won six of sixteen championships!

http://www.orlandopredators.com

The Amway Arena where they play is about a 30 minute without traffic one hour with traffic drive from WDW. Parking is ample in the immediate vicinity of the arena. (The Arena is also known as the Orlando Arena and the TD Waterhouse Center)

The Preds sell out most games, so I advise buying tickets in advance.

Disregard this part if you are a male... Head Coach Jay Gruden is very easy on the eyes...

Anne

 

[MorningGlory]

2 excellent suggestions, thanks very much 5mins and ducklite!

Might even do both!

 

[madcoco]

Disregard this part if you are a male... Head Coach Jay Gruden is very easy on the eyes...

OK disreguarding.
Disreguard this part if you are a female.
Now how about those Prowlers!

 

[F-L-A]

OK disreguarding.
Disreguard this part if you are a female.
Now how about those Prowlers!

Best part of the game.

 

[swillis]

I have an 11 year old son who is a football fanatic, I have never done this, so I can't comment on it personally, but i am going to bring him to Disney's Wide World of Sports and let him do the "NFL Experience" Apparently they get to pass, kick, and do other stuff on the field at the stadium.

Hopefully it's a good time, I haven't really heard anything about it other than what I read on the website. Just a thought for your football guy. By the way...we'll be there in June also (15-25)

 

[sonny]

I know this is little help to you. But Tampa Bay does their fall training at Disney in August I believe. It used to be free to go watch. Maybe you could schedule a return visit. It is always fun to get autographs and maybe talk to the players.

 

[MorningGlory]

I have an 11 year old son who is a football fanatic, I have never done this, so I can't comment on it personally, but i am going to bring him to Disney's Wide World of Sports and let him do the "NFL Experience" Apparently they get to pass, kick, and do other stuff on the field at the stadium.

Hopefully it's a good time, I haven't really heard anything about it other than what I read on the website. Just a thought for your football guy. By the way...we'll be there in June also (15-25)

I'd never heard of this swillis

Do you have a link to the info on the Disney website? I always find the Disney site difficult to navigate for some reason

@ sonny: Nice idea, but the only chance of me returning to WDW so quickly would be an unexpected lottery win.

'Unexpected' in that I dont buy lottery tickets lol. Thanks anyway, might be something to consider when deciding on a date for next year

 

[swillis]

I have had a hard time finding good info about it also, I originally found it on TourGuideMike's website (thats a paid susbscription service so I can't quote anything, or link)

I did find this
http://goflorida.about.com/library/bls/bl_photo_wdw_sportscomplex3.htm

Doesn't really give you all that much more info. It looks as though this is the same exhibit that travels to each Superbowl host city, but Disney made a permanent attraction at the stadium. The price is included in admission to the stadium itself, which wasn't too expensive.

Like I said...it's all new to me too, but my son will love it I'm sure.

 

[ducklite]

This started as a failed concept called Sports Lab. It was to travel from city to city throughout the US, setting up in the parking lots in stadiums. The first one was held in Dallas, a small fortune was invested into it and the entire operation folded before the third event took place, many lawsuits are still tied up in Federal court.

ABC/Cap Cities bought the assets of the failed venture and scaled it down, this was one of the end results.

I know a small business owner who was providing some of the infrastructure for it, he was driven to near bankruptcy when he not only didn't get paid but the equipment he had leveraged other assets to purchase for the project was seized by another creditor that he didn't even owe money to but the promoters did.

My DH had been the team lead for a portion of the project, and he was called to testify a few years back on behalf of his former employer.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread.

Anne

 

[Otter49]

I've only been to a few Preds games, but they're lots of fun - high scoring affairs with non-stop action.

A small cautionary note though. The fans can get pretty rowdy the more the beer flows.

And aside from Gruden, also easy on the eye (for a lot of us) are some of the female fans who are entirely willing to lift their shirts when one of the arena cameras focuses in on them. Or when they get an offer of free beer from a male fan.