Orlando City Soccer Club (OCSC) has announced that due to overwhelming response to the club’s home games, OCSC will increase capacity in its new stadium to accommodate between 25,000 and 28,000 fans, and will provide additional enhanced amenities for a premium fan experience.
In addition, the club will privately fund the entire downtown stadium construction, allowing the project to move forward immediately with an expected completion date of summer 2016. The city of Orlando has agreed to sell the property in Parramore designated as the site for the downtown soccer stadium to OCSC, and the club has agreed to develop the stadium. OCSC will become the sole owners and operators of the venue.
“The incredible response from our fans and partners has led us to pursue a larger facility with enhanced amenities,” said OCSC president and founder Phil Rawlins. “We didn’t come here to be average, we came here to continually defy expectations and our vision for the new stadium will rank us among the top three clubs in MLS.”
Through its first seven home games, nearly 250,000 fans have attended OCSC matches at the Orlando Citrus Bowl, including more than 52,000 from outside the state of Florida – which is roughly the equivalent of a major college bowl game every five weeks.
According to OCSC, fans have travelled from 49 different states and 64 different countries to see the club play live. In its inaugural season, OCSC has the second highest average attendance in MLS, drawing 37,400 per game. Excluding the inaugural match, which drew 62,510 people, the club averages 30,300 per match.
June 5, 2015
