Beginning this weekend and continuing throughout the entire month of August, City’s season ticket members will be rewarded for their unwavering support, as their images will be printed on the numbers on the back of each City players’ jersey.
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Five years after the team first arrived in Orlando and less than two years after it gained entry into Major League Soccer, Orlando City’s president and founder, Phil Rawlins, unveiled what he called “the last piece to the jigsaw puzzle”.
About 33,900 fans attend home games at the Citrus Bowl on average. “We have much more freedom to go in the direction we want now, and I am very excited about the new venue we will be able to present for our fans”.
The new stadium is slated to be ready by the summer of 2016.
The stadium design is still based primarily on the original plans, but the south end will now become a fully covered section, and all four corners will be filled in to allow for the extra capacity.
– An 8,400-square-foot indoor club in the West stand.
“We’ve really borrowed from everywhere we’ve gone”, Rawlins said, pointing to Kansas City; Portland, Ore.; Houston; and England as sources of inspiration.
Rawlins and da Silva said they’ve taken the best features from MLS and soccer specific stadiums from around the world and are having them built into what will be the new home for the Lions. Orlando City Soccer plans to buy an additional 10-12 acres next to the stadium to build a fan zone for game days.
Rawlins also said it was the club’s passionate fans who ultimately pushed the team’s leadership to create a bigger venue.
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The club has increased season-ticket capacity to 18,000, and Rawlins said team leaders believe they will sell out that allotment for the 2016 season. OCSC says the new stadium could also be used to host global soccer, rugby, and lacrosse games as well as concerts.
