Florida-Miami to kickoff 150th college football season

The Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes will kick off the 150th season of college football on August 24th, 2019.

That’s a change from the original date of August 31, 2019.

ESPN approached both schools about moving the game and the NCAA ruled on the decision Thursday.

“Moving the Camping World Kickoff to Aug. 24 is a unique and rare opportunity that showcases college football, both storied programs, and the state of Florida,” Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said in a release. “By mid-August the public is hungry for college football, and America is now going to be able to watch the Gators and Hurricanes in a marquee game a week earlier than usual. I’d anticipate the exposure for the sport of college football, and both schools, to be immense.

“There has been a lot of moving parts over the past few months and we’re thankful for the NCAA, ESPN, Florida Citrus Sports, Miami and College Football’s 150th Anniversary Organization for their cooperation during this process. I’d also like to thank the fans from both schools for their understanding of the date change.”

When rumors began swirling that the game would be changed there was immediate outrage among fans, on both sides, that had already booked travel and lodging for the weekend of the 31st.

Florida will he addressing those concerns in the following way.

Fans should contact their airline, hotel (see below), or rental car company directly to see about applying for change fees to be waived. When calling the specific company, fans should reference the date change as the reason for asking that fee to be waived.

  • The game organizers are sensitive to the impact the date change may have on fan travel. Florida Citrus Sports is in contact with the Orlando tourism and lodging community and will enlist their support to encourage them to accommodate travel revisions prompted by the change.

 

 

 

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC