Orlando City: Stadium to be completed in 12 to 14 months

Miami’s getting a tough stadium deal ] .

But, the Lions are averaging 33,960 fans in their first season in the MLS while playing at the city-owner Citrus Bowl.

Beginning this weekend at Saturday night’s game and for the entire month of August, season ticket holders will have their faces printed on the numbers on the back of each City player’s jersey. That means they have to play much of next season, as well as this one, at the Citrus Bowl.

The pictures are quite nice, even if the limited growth is at-best a mild concern. “That’s been done by filling in three sides and building a new south stand that gets us to our 25,500 capacity and that’s really what we were aiming for”, Rawlins said. The stadium will be the third-largest venue in Major League Soccer.

“We are thrilled with the work to date and proud to unveil the latest set of renderings for our home in downtown”, said Majority Owner Flavio Augusto da Silva at the conference.

“We’ve really borrowed from everywhere we’ve gone”, Rawlins said, pointing to Kansas City; Portland, Ore.; Houston; and England as sources of inspiration.

The stadium’s location is only a few blocks west of downtown Orlando. Everyone has told us: “‘We didn’t build enough premium product, ‘ and that’s why we’ve gone over 20 percent with premium product”.

Although ground infrastructure on the site has nearly been completed, it will still take at least another 12 to 14 months before the Lions are ready to move in. He said he hoped the fans would continue to use public transportation.

The new design call for 6,000 more seats than the original plan, and that seemed to be the most exciting news to fans at the news conference.

Rawlins also said it was the club’s passionate fans who ultimately pushed the team’s leadership to create a bigger venue.

“Ideally, we will be able to play our first game in the stadium in September next year”, Rawlins said.