Steve Hogan to Receive CFHLA’s Charles Andrews Memorial Hospitality Award
The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association (CFHLA) will recognize Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan as the association’s 2017 Charles Andrews Memorial Hospitality Award recipient at Saturday’s CFHLA Hospitality Gala. This award, the highest honor bestowed upon an individual by CFHLA, is in recognition of achievements and contributions to Central Florida’s hospitality industry, as well as the community at large.
Hogan presented the 2017 Howard Palmer Award to Lee Corso at the Florida Citrus Sports Member Celebration in May.
Hogan’s continued and unwavering support of Florida’s sports tourism industry through Florida Citrus Sports as well as his commitment to LIFT Orlando in their efforts to boost the local community surrounding Camping World Stadium granted him a unanimous decision for the association’s distinction. Hogan joins a long list of notable past recipients of the Charles Andrews Memorial Hospitality Award including Walt Disney (1999), former governor Jeb Bush (2004) and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer (2016).
Florida Citrus Sports’ CEO since 2006, Hogan has spent over two decades in the organization taking it to new heights. Hogan was widely regarded as being the “quarterback” who brought together leaders from the public and private sector to convince the NFL to move the Pro Bowl from Honolulu to “The City Beautiful,” and make it a week-long celebration. In its first year in Orlando, the Pro Bowl sold out Camping World Stadium and brought in over an estimated $40 million in economic impact.
Hogan visits with former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops prior to the Sooners’ appearance in the 2014 Camping World Bowl.
During his tenure at Florida Citrus Sports, Hogan has worked on a variety of major sporting events. In 1999, he created a college football all-star game – The Villages Gridiron Classic — from scratch, an event that lasted seven years on ESPN and featured more than 100 NFL draft picks. Hogan has managed several NFL preseason, college football regular-season and international soccer neutral-site games. Additionally, he has negotiated television, title sponsorship and conference agreements that have elevated Florida Citrus Sports, and ultimately Orlando, into one of only three communities that stage multiple bowl games each year.
Under Hogan’s leadership, Citrus Sports secured naming rights for what is now known as Camping World Stadium, an agreement that extends to the playing field in the form of the Camping World Kickoff neutral-site game on Labor Day Weekend, traditionally a slower period for local tourism. The inaugural kickoff game featured a sold-out crowd to see No. 4 Florida State team come back from a 22-point deficit to knock off No. 12 Ole Miss in 2016 and returns next season with Alabama and Louisville squaring off on Sept. 1. In 2019, the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Gators will revive their historic rivalry in the third installment of the Camping World Kickoff.
In 2013, Hogan was part of a group of community leaders responsible for creating LIFT Orlando, a 501(c)(3) organization aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty in Orlando’s at-risk communities by collaborating with residents to achieve shared goals of mixed-income housing, cradle to career educational pipeline, community wellness and long-term economic viability. Florida Citrus Sports is a founding partner of LIFT, working to realize Hogan’s vision of the stadium serving as a catalyst to create pathways of progress for our neighbors facing the toughest life challenges.
Hogan received the EDC chairman’s award at the 2017 James B. Greene Award gala in April.
LIFT Orlando secured the money to begin construction on an affordable, mixed-income community west of the stadium on Orange Center Boulevard. The complex, known as Pendana at West Lakes, is the first major project in LIFT’s plan to revitalize the area and is set to begin move-ins this spring.
In November, LIFT also announced plans for a 31,000 square foot Boys & Girls Club, which is scheduled to open in 2019. The Boys & Girls Club will be part of the West Lakes Community School Campus, which will also include an Early Learning Center and a state-of-the-art Health and Wellness Center.”
Hogan adds this recognition to his list of local community honors, including the 2014 Dick Pope Legacy Award, given to leaders who reinforce the sustainability of Florida’s hospitality and tourism industries, and 2017 EDC Chairman’s Award, which recognizes long-term contributors to the economic development of the Orlando region. The awards ceremony will be held at the Hyatt Regency Orlando in front of more than 1,200 hospitality industry influencers.