Osceola County Stadium is an outdoor sports venue located in

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

, part of the wider Orlando City SC Training Ground at Osceola Heritage Park. Originally a

baseball park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

, it was converted into a

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-pu ...

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

in 2019 to house the club's

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...

reserve team

Orlando City B Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Osce ...

ahead of the 2020 season. It had previously served as the home field for the Class A

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

Kissimmee Cobras The Kissimmee Cobras were a Florida State League baseball team based in Kissimmee, Florida that played from 1995 to 2000. They were affiliated with the Houston Astros and played their home games at Osceola County Stadium. Prior to 1995, the team ...

(1995–2000),

Osceola Astros Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a Scotsman, James McQ ...

(1985–1994) and

Florida Fire Frogs The Florida Fire Frogs were a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League from 2017 to 2020. They were located in North Port, Florida, and served as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. Founded in 2017, the Fire Frogs ...

(2017–2019).

Renovations

The Osceola County Stadium and Complex underwent a significant renovation in 2003 at a price of US$18.4 million The renovation increased

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

, upgraded the press box, improved the clubhouses, and added "Autograph Alley" which is a popular feature of spring training events. In May 2019, the

accepted a half-million-dollar buyout from the county to leave at the end of the 2019 season. The stadium will be redeveloped to be part of a larger training complex at Osceola Heritage Park for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

to house its senior MLS team, USL League One reserve team and Development Academy. As well as the stadium, the training ground will also include four practice fields - three natural grass and one artificial turf - a fitness, training and recovery center; a players’ lounge; meal room and a film room as well as of office space for working staff and facilities to support media operations.

Other uses

The

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

used the site for

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

between 1985 and 2016. The Astros' lease with the ballpark ended in 2017. The Astros and

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

moved into

The Ballpark of The Palm Beaches The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches is a baseball park located in West Palm Beach, Florida. The stadium has a capacity of 6,500 people in fixed seats with room for 1,000 more on the outfield berm. The stadium hosts the Houston Astros and Washington N ...

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

in February 2017. The Osceola County Complex was also home of the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring where many hopeful future major league umpires went to learn the trade. Additionally, it hosts numerous amateur baseball events throughout the remainder of the year in conjunction with the

United States Specialty Sports Association The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) is a volunteer, sports governing body and a nonprofit organization 3] based in Viera, Florida. Originally USSSA stood for United States Slowpitch Softball Association. However, in 1998, US ...

, Triple Crown Sports, World Baseball Federation, and Promotion Sports. The venue hosted the 1998 and 1999

Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournament The ASUN Conference baseball tournament, sometimes referred to simply as the ASUN Tournament, is the conference baseball championship of the NCAA Division I ASUN Conference. Before the ASUN expanded to 12 members in 2021 (2022 season), the top six ...

s, won by Florida International and

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, respectively. In the mid-1990s Osceola County Stadium was planned to be the home of the yet-to-be named Central Florida team, a charter franchise of the United League (UL) which was a planned third league of

(MLB). Osceola County Stadium hosted the Johnsonville

American Cornhole League The American Cornhole League (ACL) is the sanctioning body for the sport of professional cornhole in the United States and is the originator of competitive cornhole. Headquartered in Rock Hill, SC, the ACL hosts over 25,000 tournaments per year an ...

(ACL) Championships in 2018.

Gallery

File:Osceola County Stadium complex.JPG, A view of additional fields at the complex, circa 2004

References

External links

* {{FSL ballparks Grapefruit League venues Minor league baseball venues Houston Astros spring training venues Baseball venues in Florida Sports venues in Greater Orlando Buildings and structures in Kissimmee, Florida Tourist attractions in Osceola County, Florida Sports in Kissimmee, Florida 1984 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1984 USL League One stadiums Soccer venues in Florida