Last
November, Orlando City Soccer was officially awarded as the 21st
expansion of the Major League Soccer.
Bringing the MLS back to Florida was surely a huge achievement, but,
since then, the team has worked even harder in order to properly fit into what
“has become one of the fastest growing and most exciting leagues in the world”
(Rawlins, 2013). OCSC has primed the market for the last few years by excelling
in the USL PRO, the third tier of the US soccer, by winning two regular season titles
and two postseason championships over the last 4 years.
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| Source: ValenciaVoice.com |
Besides
the great passion of Orlando City’s fans, what really caught the attention of
the MLS were the important financials figures. Over the past few years soccer
has become in central Florida one of the most prolific industry. The attendance
rates (Orlando City drew almost 9,000 fans per game in 2013) and the important
partnerships (Orlando Health, T-Mobile and Lotto) created such healthy business
relationships that could not go unnoticed.
Source: OrlandoCitySC.com
Here are some features of the future house of the Orlando City Soccer “Lions”:
- Capacity: 19,500 total capacity (approximate)
- Seating Bowl: Full 360-degree lower bowl built below ground level with a unique 3-stand seating upper bowl.
- Roof Coverage: Full roof canopies that cover all seats to the front row on the east, west & north ends that are designed to enhance and amplify the crowd noise, as well as protect fans from the sun and rain.
- Fan Plaza Areas: Open and expansive fan plaza on the south end leading into the Church Street Sports & Entertainment Corridor, which will serve as a large common gathering area for fans during events.
- Future Expansion: Underground infrastructure built-in to allow for future seating expansion in the stadium corners. Public Art: Full-size lion statue prominently featured built on a rotating base to allow the statue to face the stadium field during Orlando City matches and towards Church Street during non-event times. Additional details on the lion statue will be announced in the future.
(Source: OrlandoCitySC.com)
The
overall project is estimated to cost almost $115 million, and costs will be
split between public money and funds from the soccer club (OrlandoCitySC.com).
Another
extremely important change that the club has done recently in order to better
prepare for the MLS was to change its logo.
Even though some hard-core fans were not happy about it, that was a wise
decision because the new logo looks way more professional and suitable for the
bigger visibility that MLS will grant to the club.
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| Old Logo |
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| New Logo
The new logo was chosen after an open competition that included several local design artists and companies.
In order to represent the Sunshine State, a big gold sun was chosen; it has 21 flares “to represent Orlando City's place as the 21st franchise in MLS. The lion also has a subtle crown above its eyes to represent the club's championship history” (Tenorio, 2014).
So far, the club has been very successful, it has undergone great changes and improvements that have brought it to the highest tier of US professional soccer. Currently, the team holds the first position in its last USL season of its short yet glorious history, remaining undefeated and collecting victory after victory. However, starting from next year, we will see if the Lions will still be the kings of the jungle… Only time (and the pitch) will answer this question.
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