Orlando City's new stadium is set to open next season and the club hit a big milestone on Thursday: They installed their first seats in the upcoming venue. Here is a peek at the stadium's progress and what the final product will look like.
On Thursday, MLS commissioner Don Garber (right) and Orlando City majority owner Flavio Augusto da Silva showed off the new stadium's first two seats.
The stadium is starting to take shape. Here is a look at the view from one of the endlines, as of Thursday.
This is what the final product is going to look like when it opens next spring before the MLS and NWSL seasons begin.
The stadium will feature an “expansive fan plaza spanning 10,000 square feet.” The stadium will also be sunken below ground for some nice street-level views.
The stadium will cost upwards of $155 million and is being 100 percent privately financed through, among other ways, a program offering investors green cards.
The seating capacity will be 25,500. Right now, Orlando City averages more than that per game at Camping World Stadium. The club has also already sold out of season tickets at the new stadium.
This season, the team played at Camping World Stadium, which can fit around 70,000 people. That makes for an impressive atmosphere when it fills up…
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…But when it doesn't fill up, it can look a little bare.
The new stadium should give Orlando City a consistently strong atmosphere, and it will give the Orlando Pride, their NWSL team, a better atmosphere too. Not to mention, unlike Camping World Stadium, it will have grass.
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