Downtown Orlando Project Discussion

[aent]

16 minutes ago, popsiclebrandon said:

Miami being a lock is going to hurt us a lot, plus the brutal summer heat. But being past host will be important and our tourism infrastructure beats just about everyone. I4 will be done (hopefully) and if they can promise better light rail it might happen. Nashville voting against it probably helps us.

with some luck, the brightline connection to miami will be done, so miami/orlando could be a good partnership and a positive with the ease of getting between the two...

[Urban Mail Carrier]

Orlando will be a serious contender if we can finally get Sunrail to connect to the airport and international drive. Those connections will take the tourists seemlessly from the airport to the hotels and from the hotels to the stadium.

Edited June 13, 2018 by Urban Mail Carrier
Add to my thought

[JFW657]

I thought there was more than one WC host city.

Why not Miami AND Orlando?

[spenser1058]

14 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

I thought there was more than one WC host city.

Why not Miami AND Orlando?

Last time, we just had quarter-final games and there were other games throughout the country as teams advanced or were eliminated. I assume it will work that way in 2026 except there  will also be games played in Mexico and Canada as well as the US, assuming we haven't declared war on them by then. 

Edited June 13, 2018 by spenser1058

[jrs2]

13 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Last time, we just had quarter-final games and there were other games throughout the country as teams advanced or were eliminated. I assume it will work that way in 2026 except there  will also be games played in Mexico and Canada as well as the US, assuming we haven't declared war on them by then. 

...or having walled them off...

[bqknight]

5 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

...or having walled them off...

The USA is holding, I believe it is 60 of 80 games. 2026 will the first year of the newly expanded 48 team competition, which is why the joint bid made sense. The USA will also host all games from the quarterfinals on. 

There are 17 cities in the US still up to host, only 10 will be selected. Here is the list of the remaining possibilities:

Atlanta 
Baltimore 
Boston 
Cincinnati 
Dallas 
Denver 
Houston 
Kansas City 
Los Angeles 
Miami 
Nashville 
New York/New Jersey 
Orlando 
Philadelphia 
San Francisco 
Seattle 
Washington, D.C.

Realistically, us having a soccer team, a strong Brazilian/Latin American presence and the countries busiest tourist destination are what we have going for us. 

[codypet]

Couple of things should put Orlando over the top.  

• Newly renovated Citrus Bowl
• OC Stadium right down the street likely for practice?
• Sunrail hopefully would be operating without huge gaps in the schedule
• If Lightrail isn't visualized yet to I-drive then some serious Sand Lake Road dedicated bus shuttle should be operating between the airport/Sunrail/I-drive
• Hopefully Brightline is operating between Mia and Orl to make travel between those two cities easier
• Hotel availability will be better than it is now.

 

I don't know if Nashville, Cincinnati, or even Denver could compete with Orlando in some of these items.

[sunshine]

All 16 cities have NFL team with better stadium except Orlando.

[dcluley98]

That is not true. 

Artificial Turf NFL Stadiums: Atlanta, Boston, Cincinatti, Dallas, Houston, New York/New Jersey, Seattle.

FIFA has said that it desired all World Cup games be played on natural grass and has specific requirements for size and surface. (I think they relented and let some games be played on specially approved "FIFA Turf" recently).  I would expect that they would try to get mostly natural grass venues for the games in america. If not NFL stadia, then perhaps college. 

 

[Urban Mail Carrier]

Not to mention that Orlando also has practice fields in Sanford, Lake Nona and UCF and Disney WW of sports.

On another note this can be used as the perfect excuse to push those all important Sunrail connections. I was reading that each venue city can expect to make $500 million in economic activity.

Edited June 13, 2018 by Urban Mail Carrier

[aent]

2 hours ago, codypet said:

Couple of things should put Orlando over the top.  

• Hotel availability will be better than it is now.

Obviously that depends on growth, but Orlando has the most hotel rooms on that list, and is #2 in the country only to Vegas, accommodations wise Orlando is the clear top choice on the list. Cost is also lower here then most (if not all) of the places on the list, for nicer hotels too.

[I am Reality]

The World Cup was specifically awarded to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, as a single entity. 

Some combination of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Mexico City and Monterrey will surely get games.  

[bqknight]

18 minutes ago, I am Reality said:

The World Cup was specifically awarded to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, as a single entity. 

Some combination of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Mexico City and Monterrey will surely get games.  

Those cities will get a total of 20 games, none past the Round of 16. 

[popsiclebrandon]

So went through the bid book results.

For stadium Orlando got a 4.1 which is the average and higher than 5 other stadiums and tied with 5 others including Atlanta, Dallas, Bos, and DC. Not sure how because Atlanta and Dallas have new insane stadiums but cool.

For general accommodation we got a 5.0 and for FIFA core group (I assume staff and players?) we got a 4.1. We got the highest score in both.

For transport connectivity (30% intercity and 20% mobility) we received a 3.9. Average is a 3.6. KC got a 2.5, Nash a 3.2, and Cincy a 2.8. On the other side ATL got a 4.3 and Hou a 4.3.

For general accom and connectivity (not sure how this is diff) we received a 4.9 (avg 4.4). For core group a 4.1 (avg 3.4).

For fan fest we received a 3.5 (avg 3.6). This was only below avg score and it ties into iconic locations - Miami was considering something waterfront while we lack stuff downtown with an iconic image. Still scored higher than Dallas, Den, and LA.

Overall not sure how important these will be but its encouraging.

[sunshine]

I think the major point for Orlando is getting corporate sponsor and money from Disney. 

[Urban Mail Carrier]

10 minutes ago, sunshine said:

I think the major point for Orlando is getting corporate sponsor and money from Disney. 

And Some of that tourism tax money.  The fund is to be used for tourist related items. If this doesn’t count as tourism related, then what does?

[popsiclebrandon]

Unfortunately FOX was gifted this World Cup by FIFA so Disney isn't involved. Not sure how their merger affects that though. I thought sports was included.

[spenser1058]

14 minutes ago, popsiclebrandon said:

Unfortunately FOX was gifted this World Cup by FIFA so Disney isn't involved. Not sure how their merger affects that though. I thought sports was included.

And now Comcast, emboldened by approval of the AT&T- Time Warner merger, has announced an official bid to compete with Disney's. Stay tuned, sports fans! (Or as the late ABC's Keith Jackson would say, "whoa Nellie!")

Comcast, in 2nd Try, Offers $65 Billion Cash for 21st Century Fox  
https://nyti.ms/2HM5eJu?smid=nytcore-ios-share

From the NY Times

Edited June 13, 2018 by spenser1058

[popsiclebrandon]

I read something about Comcast not having a shot because they prefer Disney and the rights to Marvel aren't transferable or something through sale so really only Disney can buy them back.

[Pete C]

On 6/13/2018 at 1:55 PM, dcluley98 said:

That is not true. 

Artificial Turf NFL Stadiums: Atlanta, Boston, Cincinatti, Dallas, Houston, New York/New Jersey, Seattle.

FIFA has said that it desired all World Cup games be played on natural grass and has specific requirements for size and surface. (I think they relented and let some games be played on specially approved "FIFA Turf" recently).  I would expect that they would try to get mostly natural grass venues for the games in america. If not NFL stadia, then perhaps college. 

 

They will play in the NFL stadiums. They simply roll out temporary natural grass over the artificial turf.  They did this at the Citrus Bowl (which is also artificial turf BTW)  for the Mexico vs Costa Rica game in 2015.

Edited June 14, 2018 by Pete C

[JFW657]

They do amazing things with grass nowadays.

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, JFW657 said:

They do amazing things with grass nowadays.

John Morgan, is that you?

[I am Reality]

https://www.ajc.com/sports/leadoff-mercedes-benz-stadium-will-need-real-grass-for-world-cup/ZAh3xnATdWDepQ9Yh9tRDJ/

[bqknight]

1 hour ago, I am Reality said:

https://www.ajc.com/sports/leadoff-mercedes-benz-stadium-will-need-real-grass-for-world-cup/ZAh3xnATdWDepQ9Yh9tRDJ/

Yup. FIFA tournaments require natural grass. 

Many European stars when they come to MLS will actually not play games on the few remaining fields that use turf. It’s notorious for causing soccer injuries. 

[smileguy]

On 5/22/2018 at 2:12 PM, JFW657 said:

Would really love to see a 100' (10 story) red brick building on the Travelodge site!!! 

It looks like that might be happening! 
Mark has a look at the ARB item for the hotel - https://www.thedailycity.com/blog/downtown-hotel-magnolia-livingston 

The footprint is pretty small, so in order to pack 240 rooms in, there will have to be some height.