ORLANDO, Fla. — With renovations at Camping World Stadium set to begin, questions are looming about the venue’s plans for 2026, including several major annual events in Orlando.

This includes events such as the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, and the Florida Classic.

What You Need To Know

Camping World Stadium is set to start renovations scheduled to finish at the end of summer 2027

The renovations may impact some of the events set to be held at Camping World in 2026 including two Bowl Games and the Florida Classic

The UCF Board of Trustees approved the possible rental use of the Acrisure Bounce House Stadium to host those games just in case Camping World isn’t ready

The uncertainty has caused some local businesses near to stadium to take a look at their bottom line moving forward when it comes to events in 2026

 

And while the decision is not final, it does have some business owners taking a closer look at their bottom line.

Businesses like the Ivanhoe Park Lager House on Orange Blossom Trail, which is known for its craft beers and pizza.

The owners saw a packed house on Thursday, and Dustin Thompson was doing one thing he does best, making his customers happy.

He’s been working at their location near Camping World Stadium for about two years now and says this is their busiest time of the year.

“We understood how up and coming the area is and everything with all of these changes happening for the positive and community driven changes that we’re really excited about,” Thompson explained. “And then obviously having three major stadiums with two of them housing two major league sports is pretty cool.”

But with renovations set to start at the stadium closest to them, Camping World, it has created some uncertainty as the end date is still to be determined.

That is why UCF’s Board of Trustees approved the possible rental use of the Acrisure Bounce House Stadium for the 2026 bowl games and the Florida Classic.

Orlando City Commissioner Shan Rose says, however, that the move was simply a precautionary effort.

“We are just doing our due diligence to have a Plan B, and you always want to have a backup plan to make sure that we can deliver our contractual obligations to the games,” Rose said. “And so, there’s nothing set in stone. We will see as construction continues where we are when it comes to delivering the classic, and both bowl games.”

It’s news that comes as a breath of fresh air for Thompson, who knows not having those three games will hurt.

But even if the fans file into a different stadium next winter, he remains confident in the other major events held by the stadium.

“We still have events like Warp Tour and EDC are still going to be held at the same time at the same place and so I think we’re more optimistic for after those renovations are done,” Thompson said.

Thompson also mentioned the possibility of the Jacksonville Jaguars playing in Orlando in 2027 and the Major League Soccer changing up their schedule to align with the Premier League in Europe as positives moving forward as well.

Meanwhile, Rose says as far as next year’s bowl games go, we’re closer to the kickoff than the final whistle and the city will have a better idea of how to proceed by the end of the third quarter of 2026.