Orlando loses Notre Dame game over Citrus Bowl

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Orlando will miss out on what would have been a nationally-televised football game. The University of Notre Dame says no to a previously arranged deal to play a neutral game here in 2011. The deal was made in 2007, with the caveat that the Citrus Bowl be renovated in a timely manner.

The economic downturn has put stadium renovations on hold, so Notre Dame looked elsewhere.

"I don't know the particulars in their decision," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. "I don't know if something other then the condition of the stadium played into their decision making."

The school, instead, has opted to play the University of Maryland at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., on Nov. 12, 2011.

Notre Dame officials told FOX 35 that the decision was based on not knowing what was going to happen with the Citrus Bowl, which was schedule to undergo a $175 million renovation.

"The city is going to go ahead and put the money we committed, $10 million, into renovations," Mayor Dyer told FOX 35.

There is still a chance that the Fighting Irish could play inside this stadium over the next few years, as a participant in the Champs Sports Bowl. That bowl, under a new agreement, has an opportunity to pick them once every four years, if they are not already playing in a Bowl Championship Series game.