Orlando, Fla.- Orlando City SC President & Founder Phil Rawlins, City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs unveiled renderings for Orlando’s new downtown Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium to the public on Tuesday afternoon. The multi-purpose stadium features the following:
- 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.
- Hospitality & Fan Amenities: Multiple VIP hospitality areas, including a midfield Club Lounge with views of the playing field, up to 38 luxury suites and an elevated 360-degree balcony-style bar within the scoreboard structure.
- Supporters Section: Proposed single-deck supporters section featuring standing rails with an open-air ‘pub-style’ area built on top of an elevated concourse located immediately behind the seating section for use only by supporter section members.
- Playing Surface: Natural grass playing surface.
- 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.
While still subject to modifications during the full design process, architectural renderings of the new stadium can be viewed at: www.OrlandoCitySC.com
“This is yet another great step in our journey to Major League Soccer,” said Orlando City President Phil Rawlins. “We are developing a venue that will make soccer fans proud. We set out not just to build a stadium, but to push the envelope on design ideas and concepts. We took some of the best ideas from around the world and incorporated them into a venue which reflects our home in Florida.”
The new stadium is scheduled to open prior to the 2016 Major League Soccer season and will be located on Church Street, in a vibrant and expanding section of Orlando’s sports and entertainment district within the Parramore neighborhood. The stadium’s location is one block from the Amway Center – home of the Orlando Magic – allowing for synergy between the two facilities and increased activity in the surrounding area.
The stadium is being designed by Populous, a world-renowned architecture firm that has designed a range of MLS and international soccer stadiums such as Sporting Park, BBVA Compass Stadium and Wembley Stadium.
As previously announced by Orlando City in one of the more unique outreach ideas in Club history, all fans are encouraged to send their stadium design ideas to stadiumideas@orlandocitysoccer.com or via Twitter using #NewOCSCStadium. Upon review of all fan submissions, the Club will select a group of respondents to participate in future small-group workshops with the stadium design team. Fan input will continue to be solicited throughout the design process, and the Club will release a compilation of fan ideas collected in the coming weeks.
Funding for the stadium has already been secured from the Club, State of Florida, City of Orlando, Orange County, Seminole County and Osceola County. The stadium will be owned and operated by the City of Orlando (via Orlando Venues, the same entity that owns and operates the Amway Center and Orlando Citrus Bowl).
During the construction of the new downtown stadium, Orlando City will play its entire inaugural Major League Soccer (MLS) season in 2015 at the Orlando Citrus Bowl, which is currently undergoing over $200 million in renovations. The Lions spent the previous three seasons at the Citrus Bowl, generating unprecedented success, including a minor-league championship event attendance record of over 20,000 fans at the 2013 USL PRO championship match.
