Orlando City SC will not rely on public funding for their new stadium and will also increase capacity by thousands, team owner Flavio Augusto da Silva announced earlier today.
The new stadium, originally slated to be owned by the city of Orlando on public land, will now belong to the team itself after Orlando City purchases this land.
A recent proposal guaranteed $30 million in funding from the state but was delayed in the legislature.
The capacity of the new ground, originally aimed to be around 20,000 max, will increase in the range of 25,000 to 28,000 and is set to open in the summer of 2016.
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“I can’t think of a more win-win scenario,” Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer said at the press conference. “The direct economic benefit to local businesses has already been seen, and it shows how Orlando City continues to think outside the box. It ensures we will have a great stadium and that MLS will be an even bigger success story in Central Florida.”
Orlando City team president Phil Rawlins noted that the appeal for the squad has exceeded expectations, while significant work was need to make this occurrence a reality.
“It has taken a lot of work behind the scenes to get to this point,” Rawlins told MLSsoccer.com. “But we know it is the right thing for us. The market has proven this to be a much bigger and more powerful source than even we thought.”