UFL RELOCATES ORLANDO PLAYOFF BACK TO FLORIDA

The United Football League has reversed course on plans to stage the Orlando Storm’s playoff game in Ohio, announcing that Sunday’s postseason meeting with the DC Defenders will instead be played at Daytona Stadium in Daytona Beach.

The game had been moved to a neutral-site venue at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus after Orlando’s home ground, Inter&Co Stadium, became unavailable because of pre-existing commitments to an international soccer match. However, league officials continued exploring alternatives closer to Orlando and ultimately settled on Daytona Beach following a weekend of discussions involving Bethune-Cookman University, the City of Daytona Beach, local law enforcement, broadcast partner ESPN, Ticketmaster and concession providers. The Eastern Conference playoff game will now kick off at 3pm ET on Sunday.

The decision means the Storm will effectively retain a home-state advantage after finishing the regular season with a league-leading 8-2 record, while the defending champion DC Defenders travel south looking to keep their title defence alive despite the loss of starting quarterback Jordan Ta’amu to a season-ending injury several weeks ago. The Defenders struggled in Ta’amu’s absence and crept into the postseason with a 5-5 record to ensure a third straight week facing the Storm.

UFL president and CEO Russ Brandon said the league had always preferred to keep the game within reach of Orlando supporters, but initially felt that it was an ambitious goal.

“As we said from the beginning, our preference was always to keep this game as close to our Orlando fanbase as possible,” Brandon said. “When we announced Columbus, we did so to ensure we had a venue confirmed to be able to play the game after exhausting every viable option in the market to that point.

“Since then, a potential opportunity we had looked into further surfaced in Daytona Beach that warranted immediate onsite evaluation over the weekend. Once we determined the venue had the ability to work with the collective stakeholders on an expedited timeline, we felt it was important to pivot and bring this game back to Central Florida.”

Brandon also acknowledged the efforts made in Columbus after the Ohio city had been asked to step in at short notice.

“The UFL is incredibly appreciative of the Columbus community, Historic Crew Stadium, and local partners who worked collaboratively to prepare for hosting the Orlando playoff game,” Brandon said.

Series debutant Columbus Aviators missed the playoffs after going 3-7 through the regular season.