ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County commissioners Tuesday voted 6-1 to approve recommendations from the Tourist Development Tax Sports Incentive Committee for approximately $29 million in funding to offset bid fees in an effort to bring five different sporting events to the area over the next six years.

Among them is hosting the Jacksonville Jaguars for their home games in 2027 as the team is planning for a new stadium in time for 2028.

In addition to football, there are thoughts about trying to lure events like the WWE’s Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. It’s a move that, if successful, local sports leaders believe will bring in millions of dollars to the area.

More sports in the area is exactly what Steve Hogan, CEO of Florida Citrus Sports, is hoping for, as he asked commissioners to allow him to move forward with an $11 million bid to have the Jags call Camping World Stadium their home in 2027.

“Oh, I am ecstatic for this community to get support by the board commissioners for our bid. You know, we all want to win. I hope we’ll have an NFL regular season for the first time in our community in 2027, so I couldn’t be happier for Orlando as a destination,” Hogan said after the vote.

He estimates it could bring upwards of $200 million in economic impact to the area, as eight Jaguars home games could be played in the City Beautiful.

“Even conservatively, thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of about 30,000 fans per game will be from somewhere else and staying overnight in our community, probably tacking on a trip to Universal or Disney or SeaWorld, hanging out and spending money in restaurants for a few days and seeing a great NFL football game,” Hogan said.

Other bids that were funded included the 2025 AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships, the 2026 USA Fencing North America Cup and the Pride Cup. Jason Siegel, President of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission, also made a pitch for $18 million to bid for three major WWE events over the next three years and to host WrestleMania in 2031.

“Sometimes the bid process takes five, six, seven years, sometimes the events don’t happen for another five, six, seven years,” Siegel said. “So you’re awarded an event and you still have time before you’re going to have to execute on it.”

Despite the millions of dollars requested for these bids, they all would get pulled from a $10 million allotment that Visit Orlando gets annually from TDT funds. However, commissioners went back and forth discussing if this was the best use for it.

Commissioner Mayra Uribe shared that at least for the time being, she believes that it is due to the visitors these events would bring in.

“Anything we can do to infuse our local economy, I want to support because our local folks need it,” said Uribe, who represents District 3. “We want to make sure people stay employed and we want to make sure businesses stay open, and we want to make sure revenue continues to function in this town.”

While this money will only be used if the bids are accepted, both Siegel and Hogan are confident the sporting world will see what the city has to offer.

“I always want to believe that Orlando is going to win, so I’m super positive,” Hogan said. “So let’s go get this.”

Hogan said he will now formalize the bid sheet for the Jaguars and have a final conversation with them. He shared that from there, there will be internal deliberations, and the NFL owners will make a decision at their owners meeting in May.