Orlando City officially cut the ribbon on Friday, opening the new downtown stadium. Many city officials and Orlando City executives that made the stadium possible were there, including Mayor Buddy Dyer, Majority Owner Flavio Augusto da Silva, Mayor Teresa Jacobs, and Parramore City Commissioner Regina Hill. With the Orlando City and Orlando Pride banners hung over the west side entrance, these community leaders came together to cut the ribbon and welcome the city home.
The Mayor of Orange County, Teresa Jacobs, spoke about the early days of stadium development. She noted that da Silva was able to see something in Orlando City fans before fans filled Camping World Stadium for their first MLS match. He believed in them, and they pulled through.
“Flavio [Augusto da Silva] saw something in the really rambunctious, enthusiastic, passionate fans that I think a lot of us might have missed in the beginning and that is the potential for soccer to just takeover Orlando,” Mayor Jacobs said. “There couldn’t, I don’t think, be a better relationship or a better place for Orlando City Soccer to thrive and to show to this country what soccer can mean and what unity can mean and what diversity can bring in terms of the strength and richness of the quality of life that we are so blessed to enjoy here. And it just got a whole lot richer.”
Da Silva himself was emotional at the unveiling, seeing the results of years of hard work and visionary dreams. “I’m very emotive because my heart is really filled with joy. Filled with joy not just because we have a beautiful beauty, an amazing facility, an awesome environment that we are going to create here for soccer. But I’m also very happy when I can see what is behind this achievement,” da Silva said. “If we won, we had support. If we lose, if we lost the game, we also had support. This amazing support in the community, and our fans, we had to find a way to make this happen. And today, when I came here, not only for the beauty. I know what is behind. I know it was teamwork. Every single person in the team worked very hard.”
Mayor Buddy Dyer declared warmly that this was the best soccer stadium in the world, and called on Commissioner Garber to recognize Orlando has the hub it has become for national sports. “This is the best soccer stadium in the world, declared here today,” Mayor Dyer said. “Commissioner, an MLS All-Star Game would be the next perfect event for this city.”
In the end, the event was a warm introduction to the Orlando City Stadium. Citizens of the community, as well as staff and media, were allowed to walk around and see what has finally come into being. Next week, we’ll welcome the fans and the entire city of Orlando.
“We are very proud to be here,” da Silva said. “For us, it’s a huge privilege to be part of this history. This is the reason I am very emotional today and very happy for what has been happening here. So, thank you.”
