Predators To Play In CFE Arena At UCF This Season
By Space Coast Daily // January 17, 2014
first home game Sunday, March 16
ABOVE VIDEO: This short clip is just a taste of the high octane action that Arena Football provides for its spectators.
OrlandoPredators.com — The Orlando Predators have moved from the Amway Center to CFE Arena in Orlando, Florida.
Predators’ owner David Pearsall confirmed Wednesday night that the team has signed a deal to play at the CFE Arena, located on the campus of the University of Central Florida (UCF).
The CFE Arena, which is managed by Global Spectrum, is a beautiful facility, located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida.
Formerly UCF Arena, the 10,000-seat CFE Arena opened in 2007, as a part of Knights Plaza, an 80,000-square foot athletic village and shopping center located on the north end of UCF.
The facility hosts concerts, family shows, private events, and is also home to the UCF Knights men’s and women’s basketball teams.
“We are excited to partner with the Orlando Predators, and the hard hitting, fast paced action of the Arena Football League,” said Global Spectrum’s Brian Hixenbaugh, General Manager of CFE Arena.
“The Orlando Predators will continue to provide our community with more family friendly, affordable sports and entertainment.”
The new arena brings a new chapter in the Predators organization, and owner David Pearsall, who recently acquired the team, could not be more excited.
“We are thrilled to start a new chapter of the Predators organization at CFE Arena,” said Pearsall. “Our fans are going to experience a new theater style jumbo screen on the back wall of the arena that will show larger than life football like they have never seen.”
“We have had a long relationship with the Orlando Predators and their fans. We are pleased that they will remain in the Orlando market,” said Allen Johnson, Executive Director of the Orlando Venues/Amway Center, on the move to CFE Arena.
PREDATORS HOME SCHEDULE
3/16/14 – Jacksonville Sharks at Orlando Predators
3/21/14 – LA KISS at Orlando Predators
4/10/14 – Philadelphia Soul at Orlando Predators
4/19/14 – Tampa Bay Storm at Orlando Predators
4/26/14 – New Orleans VooDoo at Orlando Predators
5/24/14 – Pittsburgh Power at Orlando Predators
6/12/14 – Jacksonville Sharks at Orlando Predators
7/10/14 – Iowa Barnstormers at Orlando Predators
7/26/14 – Arizona Rattlers at Orlando Predators
The stars continue to align for the AFL and the Predators as ESPN and the AFL have announced that they have reached a deal that would bring a handful of games to the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
The multi-year agreement gives ESPN broadcast rights to more than 10 games on the league’s schedule. That includes many regular and post season games, and the league’s annual championship, the Arena Bowl.
Terms of the deal also mean that seventy-five games or more will be available for viewing online via ESPN3.
Fans will also be able to go to the official AFL website, ArenaFootball.com to see games on ESPN’s video player.
Arena Football League Commissioner Jerry B. Kurz also shared his thoughts on the partnership between the AFL and ESPN. He was optimistic about the league’s future in discussing the deal.
Speaking to reporters, Kurz said, “The AFL’s return to ESPN is the latest example of the strides our sport has made in recent years.”
With the UCF Campus located in the easternmost portion of Orlando, this move brings professional sports action to the doorstep of Brevard.
The Predators games are now 16 miles closer, but as anyone that has driven in big cities knows, 40 minutes or more on game nights. If you have never been to an Arena Football game, go. You will not be disappointed.
