College Football Bowls Attract Thousands of Visitors
Friday, December 30, 2011
By: Tom Parkinson

Dec 30, 2011 | WMFE - Thousands of college football fans are joining the usual holiday crowd of visitors to Central Florida this week. Orlando is hosting two college bowl games with a parade in between. Florida State University defeated Notre Dame last night in the Champs Sports Bowl.

The Capital One Bowl is set for Monday. The South Carolina Gamecocks face the Nebraska Cornhuskers. There’s also a “Bowl Week” parade planned for downtown Orlando Saturday as well as numerous pep rallies and band concerts to entertain the fans.
Steve Hogan is CEO of Florida Citrus Sports, the group that organizes and promotes the “Bowl Week” events.
He says the bowls provide a major economic boost for Central Florida.
“Attendance for both games will probably crest 125, 000 people.” Hogan said. “Roughly 85% of that crowd is coming from outside the region and spending there money here in hotels and attractions and restaurants and shops.”
Hogan estimates the total economic impact at $80 million dollars but the games are being broadcast nationally and he says, there’s no way to measure the intangible value of beaming images of mid-winter Florida sunshine into millions of American homes.