Having mobilized for the Club World Cup last summer, Orlando has its eye on a number of major events in the coming years: the Women's Volleyball World Championship in 2027, the Women's World Cup in 2031, the Rugby World Cups in 2031 and 2033, and WrestleMania, WWE's flagship show. It also plans to carve out a place in the sun on the road to Los Angeles 2028. Jason Siegel, president and executive director of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission, discusses these prospects in the second part of his interview.
Besides those already mentioned, what events do you want to organize in the near future?
We are in discussions with the IOC about various opportunities, which I can't talk about yet. Last year, we went to London and then to Paris for the Olympic Games, where I had eight or nine meetings with different international federations and sports governing bodies in the United States. In April, representatives from our city and county accompanied us to Lausanne to meet with several international federations. Just recently, our team was in Sunderland for the opening match of the Rugby World Cup to meet with World Rugby again. We are showing our commitment to growing our business. There will be opportunities with all the events planned in the United States between now and 2034, and we want to make sure we are well-positioned for that by having constructive discussions. We have made five trips to Europe in the last 13 months, which is five times more than we usually do.
With all this energy, all this ambition, are you aiming for the biggest sporting event on the planet?
The answer is yes. I've had conversations with Florida state leaders; I was in Paris last summer. Florida has a strong tourism industry, with particular attention paid to Miami and Tampa. Depending on how the leadership evolves (our governor will be out of office in 2026, the county mayor in 2026, the city mayor in 2027), if we continue on this path, I believe Florida has what it takes to host the Summer Olympics in 2040.
Orlando representatives, including Jason Siegel (far left), traveled to Lausanne in the spring to meet with officials from the International Volleyball Federation.
What are your plans for participating in the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games?
We are continuing our dialogue with LA28. Currently, most of the discussions are about hosting qualifying events, international qualifying events, or U.S. Olympic qualifying events. The Women's Volleyball World Championship would qualify three teams for the Olympic Games, and we have similar discussions underway. We've had excellent discussions with FIBA, and if the U.S. men's and women's basketball teams go on tour before the Olympics, we would be very happy to host them.
Would you like to host soccer matches during the Olympics? Stadiums outside the Los Angeles area could be considered.
We haven't had those discussions yet, but we would love to take the opportunity. We hosted games in 1996 when the Games were held in Atlanta. I think we would do a great job again.
