With a lot of buzz surrounding the US Men's National Team as it prepares to compete in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil next summer, Major League Soccer is beginning to add on expansion teams, with Florida in mind as the possible landing spot for one of four projected teams to enter the league by 2020.Of the likely locations in the Sunshine State for this possible team to land, Orlando seems to be the primed spot. And to that, I say this: bring it on!
The City of Orlando easily proved it’s worth Saturday night when over 20,000 loyal supporters showed up for Orlando City Soccer's 7-4 win over the Charlotte Eagles in the USL PRO Championship game.
Coming into the match, Orlando City has a mission to get at least 15,000 fans to attend the championship match, in hopes to show city and county leaders how much the team's support has grown. They more than exceeded their goal, as they had to open up several upper level sections of the Citrus Bowl due to a high demand for tickets for the game.
"Yeah, we've had a week to prepare for this and our fans have been absolutely unbelievable. The media campaign for 15,000 and we've blown through that, expected as much as 20,000 here tonight, and I think that sends a huge message to Major League Soccer. That this city is ready for the next level of soccer here in Central Florida," said team president Phil Rawlins.
Bringing home the championship trophy, Orlando City hopes that it'll show the top-guns at the MLS that they deserve to be a part of America’s fastest growing professional sport, while also building support to construct a new $85 million soccer stadium in order to meet the demands an MLS franchise would need to meet.
In my opinion, $85 million would be a small price to pay in order to continue to build the quickly growing reputation that Orlando, Florida has gained up over recent years as an uprising sports city.
Taking home a championship, and having already signed off the plans for the new stadium that is still awaiting approval by top Orlando officials, Orlando City Soccer is ready bring another pro-team to Central Florida.
Yes, it's true; Florida once hosted a pair of MLS teams -- Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion -- in the early-2000’s, and both of those clubs quickly folded because of terrible financial support. But times are different, and Florida is now considered by many to be a soccer hotbed, as the game of soccer is growing to irresistible numbers.
In a state dominated by nine teams of the four major North America sports, it's time to add a team for the rising fifth. I'm not just thrilled about the idea of planting an MLS franchise here; I'm rooting for it more than anything.
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