It shouldn’t be a surprise, but Orlando City SC continues to impress both on the pitch and at the stadium box office, drawing over 40,000 fans to the Citrus Bowl Sunday and defeating LA Galaxy, 4-0.
Orlando City SC has emerged as one of the big stories in MLS this season; the product on the field has proven to be competitive (and, with a current 3-5-3 record and 12 points, would be in the playoffs), and the team’s marketing arm is amazingly success. Orlando City SC would be a playoff team today if the season ended. Yesterday’s 4-0 win over Los An
In the long term, what’s more impressive is the team’s performance at the box office. Despite playing in a football stadium — albeit one in the midst of upgrades — Orlando City SC set an MLS record for highest attendance for the first six games of an inaugural season, averaging 37,446 fans per game after drawing 62,510 for the inaugural game. Yesterday’s attendance was 40,122.
Success, of course, brings the size of a new stadium currently in the planning stages into question. The new stadium is envisioned as hosting 25,000. The issue for Orlando City SC leadership: whether losing the number of seats is offset by the potential increase in revenues in a new stadium. The issue is being raised by some in the community, per News 13:
The match shaped up to be the second largest crowd for Orlando City with 40,122 fans packing the Citrus Bowl. Of course, that continues to pose questions for the new stadium currently under construction in Parramore, which is only expected to expand to 25,000 seats at most.
“We are not even winning too many games and they are selling out,” said JC Sanclemente, an Orlando City fan. “You know it is good for the city, we have a lot of fans here and I’m glad we are selling that many tickets. I know we are going to pack that new stadium.”
“I think the more the merrier,” Scherr said. “Pack it in. This is the start of good things for Orlando City Soccer.”
Image courtesy Orlando City SC.