Jacksonville Jaguars are Going to Disney World!

The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to Walt Disney World!!! Technically, the Jags are going ~20 miles from WDW property to Camping World Stadium in Orlando, where they’ll play home games temporarily, but that’s still close enough for NFL fans who want to get their fix, as well as for Central Florida locals and WDW diehards to get excited!

NFL owners unanimously approved terms of a temporary, one-year stadium lease between the Jaguars and Florida Citrus Sports for the Jaguars to play home games in Camping World Stadium during the 2027 season. The league’s 32 owners approved Orlando as the Jags’ temporary home during the NFL’s 2026 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.

Camping World Stadium will be designated as the Jaguars’ home stadium in 2027, with the team unable to play at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville because of ongoing renovations. The Jaguars will play home games at EverBank Stadium in 2026 at a limited capacity of 42,507. The Jaguars already announced plans to play consecutive home games in London this fall as a result.

The renovated ‘Stadium of the Future’ is expected to be complete and ready to be the Jaguars’ permanent home field in time for the 2028 regular season following a $1.4 billion reimagining that’ll showcase state-of-the-art innovation and open the door for future Super Bowls and other marquee events.

For the final stages of the renovation project in 2027, the team needed an entirely new venue. The Jags considered playing at Daytona International Speedway, at Florida Field in Gainesville and at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Camping World was always the front-runner, and became a no-brainer when Orlando offered a $10 million incentive package to help land the Jaguars in 2026.

In celebration of the news and a nod to their new neighbors at WDW, the Jags posted this ‘Steamboat Jaxson’ video:

All aboard! ⛴@Kissimmee | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/3fCBnHs9uM

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) April 1, 2026

It no doubt helped Orlando’s odds that the aging Camping World Stadium is undergoing its own massive renovation, as part of a $400 million project that’ll give the venue a modernized, NFL-friendly facility.

This will entail increasing capacity to a minimum of 65,000, upgrading luxury suites, improving concourses, modernizing concession areas and restrooms, and creating a multipurpose event center. Construction, which began last December, is scheduled to be completed in Summer 2027, just in time for next year’s NFL season (fingers crossed given construction delays!).

Here’s what key figures said about the Jaguars’ Orlando announcement:

Jaguars Owner Shad Khan: “The Jaguars couldn’t ask for a better scenario than Orlando and Camping World Stadium as our temporary home in 2027. This couldn’t have happened without the endorsement of the league and team owners who approved our plan two years ago for a renovated Stadium of the Future in Downtown Jacksonville, and we’re especially appreciative of the support of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the process. We’re also grateful to the team at Florida Citrus Sports that made this solution a reality that will benefit all, including Jaguars fans just a few hours away in Jacksonville. This is a win that everyone can celebrate.”

Jaguars President Mark Lamping: “Following the comprehensive evaluation of our 2027 season playing options, we are pleased that the NFL and NFL owners unanimously agree that Orlando is the location that best meets the needs of the Jaguars, our 2027 opponents, and the National Football League. This temporary relocation is a necessary and important step to facilitate the 2028 completion of Jacksonville’s Stadium of the Future. We are deeply grateful to our fanbase for their continued support, patience, and enthusiasm during this interim period. We are also incredibly thankful for the support of Florida Citrus Sports, the City of Orlando, Orange County and other stakeholders for making this 2027 home for the Jaguars possible.”

Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan: “We couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to welcome the Jacksonville Jaguars and their fans to Orlando for the 2027 season. Hosting NFL regular-season football is a major milestone for our city, and we’re grateful to the Jaguars and NFL ownership for their belief in our community. Orange County and the City of Orlando have invested significant resources in our stadium campus, and the 2027 season will provide a tremendous opportunity to deliver a first-class fan experience and further elevate Orlando’s standing as a host for major sporting events.”

Longtime Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer: “This is electric. One of the biggest days in Orlando’s sports history. We are challenging our community to sell out the stadium in 2027. We’ve been working for at least 10 years to get just one Jags or Bucs regular-season game. To end up with a whole season is tremendous.”

The Jaguars are scheduled to play 10 home games during the 2027 NFL season, including a preseason exhibition. Not all of those will be played in Orlando, though. Jacksonville could play up to three home games in London that season. (I didn’t follow this super closely, but I’m somewhat surprised the Jags didn’t try to play the entire 2027 season with London as its home.)

In all likelihood, Orlando will host 7-8 Jags games, including in-state matchups featuring Tampa Bay and Miami. Per the NFL’s scheduling formula, the Jaguars’ other home opponents in 2027 are Houston, Indianapolis, Tennessee, Buffalo, New Orleans, an AFC West team, and an NFC West team. (Sadly for me, no Lions in the mix.)

The Jaguars are coming off a 13-4 season in which they won the AFC South in the first year of a new regime, and were one of the more exciting teams to watch (and I say that as someone who isn’t a Jags fan), with Trevor Lawrence silencing the critics. Travis Hunter could still prove to be a generational talent.

It’ll be interesting to see whether that momentum can be sustained for the next two years without much of a home-field advantage. The Jags did go 6-2 on the road last year, so there’s that.

“I think it will be a cool thing because your average football fan is in Disney a lot,” head coach Liam Coen said. “It could be a way to connect with a new fan base. Are there going to be challenges and stressors and things that we have to work through? Absolutely. But I do think generally for our brand and for Jacksonville Jaguars football, I don’t think it’s going to kill us.”

I feel like there’s a word or two missing from that first quote, but if not, Coen is right. During the NFL season, there are a ton of football fans at Walt Disney World. Diehard Disney Adults are also, quite often, diehard NFL fans. You can tell by the clothing and hats guests are wearing.

However, I would not say that the Jaguars are chief among them. The Chiefs are, as are the Bills, Bears, Lions, Packers, Patriots, Dolphins, Bucs, Steelers, Colts, Eagles, Texans, and Cowboys. I’m guessing we’ll see a lot of Giants fans in the parks in 2026, since they’ll be good again.

Hosting the Jaguars temporarily for a year offers Orlando an opportunity to showcase its ability to support an NFL team (or similar large-scale events). It’s worth noting that Orlando is the largest U.S. media market without an NFL team and has the infrastructure (major airport, hotels, restaurants, nightlife) to handle major events.

Camping World Stadium has played host to six Pro Bowls since 2017 (most recently in 2025), so it’s no stranger to big NFL events. As for the Jaguars, they’ll remain at their team facility in Jacksonville during the week and travel ~150 miles south for the games.

Who knows where this leads. Central Florida’s population continues to grow, as does its infrastructure. I’m not sure it’s the optimal market to support new pro teams given the number of transplants in the area, but maybe that doesn’t matter. I’m also not sure the location of Camping World Stadium is optimal, but again, maybe that’s a non-factor.

I realize this topic has a tenuous (at best) “Disney connection,” but the NFL is my favorite league and I really want to see Orlando grow as a market for pro sports, so consider this a point of personal privilege. It’s also really exciting news for Centra Florida, and far from the first time that we’ve covered sports on DTB.

Beyond Orlando as a whole, what I’d really love is to see more professional sporting events at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. Part of this is obviously selfishness, as I’d love to catch a sporting event with stakes while visiting Walt Disney World. I used to love watching Spring Training at the ESPN WWoS, and am really hoping Banana Ball is a huge hit next month.

In Will Walt Disney World Become Home to a Major League Baseball Team?, I made the case for the Tampa Rays moving to the Stadium at Walt Disney World after Hurricane Milton hit and caused irreparable damage to the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. Obviously, it didn’t happen. But judging by their attendance woes, maybe it should’ve!

Since we’re (sort of) on the topic, I’ll take this opportunity to recommend watching the excellent “Once Upon a Time in Anaheim” documentary about how the Disney movie The Mighty Ducks inspired the creation of an NHL franchise.

That’s documents the period during which Michael Eisner pulled the company back from the brink, then massively grew it during the “Disney Decade.” It’s basically the highs and lows of that era told through the lens of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

The takeaway of an average sports fan from “Once Upon a Time in Anaheim” might be that Disney overextended itself by acquiring stakes in MLB and NHL teams for the sake of Eisner’s vanity. That Disney was out of its depth, and never should’ve done owned pro teams in the first place. That’s certainly one logical conclusion.

The takeaway of this Disney fan, however, is that Disney never should’ve sold their interests in those franchises. That they were ahead of their time, and the decision would’ve worked out well if just given more time. It recently came out that Michael Eisner had the opportunity to buy the Ducks from Disney when he exited as CEO; that was the decision he screwed up, not bringing the NHL to Anaheim.

Perhaps it’s bias or rose-colored glasses, but this perspective is vindicated by the success of the teams subsequent to the sales and the skyrocketing value of pro teams. And I say this as someone who thinks Disney has overexpanded, and should sell off or spin off some assets (ABC!). Not only that, but Disney certainly was far from the worst owner of an Anaheim sports franchise.

I also really enjoyed the NBA bubble at Walt Disney World, which was one of the few highlights of 2020. (Still waiting on that documentary that Disney+ and ESPN supposedly have/had in the works.) Basically, I just want to see more at the intersection of sports and Disney, as they’re two of my biggest interests. And not things that aren’t very good, like the NBA Experience at Disney Springs.

More teams coming to Walt Disney World or Orlando could be a savvy strategy, somewhat similar to the Jaguars’ London gambit. In the last several years, pro teams and stadiums in “destination” locations has gained a lot of momentum. That’s precisely how most of the new teams in Las Vegas and Los Angeles are selling out–if you watch games, the seats are mostly full of visiting fans.

Orlando or Walt Disney World could’ve had the exact same dynamic with a pro team. It’d be advantageous for the exact same reasons as runDisney, conventions, or the other events they do to strategically fill hotel rooms during off-peak times.

As a hotel business that also operates theme parks, Orlando or Walt Disney World being home to a team could be a huge draw…and even help further fuel expansion plans. So really, this news about the Jaguars playing their home games in Orlando during the 2027 season isn’t only tenuously related to Walt Disney World. It could end up having big lon-term implications for the parks & resorts if this temporarily relocation goes well!

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of the Jacksonville Jaguars playing their home games at Camping World Stadium in Orlando for the 2027 NFL season? Would you take a detour from a WDW trip to see the Jags play? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!