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Exploria Stadium is 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 ...
in downtown
Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...
. The stadium is located along West Church Street in the Parramore neighborhood west of
Downtown Orlando Downtown Orlando is the historic core and central business district of Orlando, Florida, United States. It is bordered by Marks Street in the north, Mills Avenue ( SR 15) in the east, Orange Blossom Trail (US 441) in the west, and Kaley Avenue in t ...
. It is the home of
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 US ...
, which entered
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 ...
(MLS) as an expansion franchise in 2015, and their
National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federati ...
(NWSL) affiliate club, the
Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride is a professional women's soccer team based in Orlando, Florida. The team joined the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of women's soccer in the US, for the 2016 season. It became the tenth team to be added to the l ...
. The stadium was completed in time for Orlando City's home opener of the 2017 season on March 5 and it became the first ever venue to permanently host
MLS 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 ...
,
NWSL The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federati ...
, and
USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...
teams all in the same location that year. Originally known as Orlando City Stadium, on June 4, 2019, it was announced that Exploria Resorts (a timeshare entity based in nearby Clermont) had acquired naming rights to the stadium. As well as home matches for Orlando City, Orlando Pride, the stadium has also been used as a host venue for both the United States men's and women's national teams, the finals for both the
NWSL Championship The National Women's Soccer League Playoffs (or NWSL Playoffs) are a single elimination tournament among six teams in the National Women's Soccer League of the United States, deciding the winner of the NWSL Championship. Since playoff games cann ...
and NCAA Women's College Cup, numerous Florida Cup games, the MLS Combine in 2018 and 2019, and the
2019 MLS All-Star Game The 2019 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 24th edition of the annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game. It was held on July 31 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida against Spanish club Atlético Madrid. Atlético won the game 3� ...
. Aside from soccer, the stadium hosted the
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experi ...
and 2021 Cure Bowl, a
college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most o ...
bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...
, as well as the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games opening ceremony.


History

In April 2013, the City of Orlando purchased downtown land for $8.2 million to be used towards the construction of a $110 million MLS soccer stadium. However, in May, the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
failed to vote on a bill that had passed the Senate that would have provided up to $30 million in state funds towards the stadium project. Orlando City SC President Phil Rawlins responded by expressing his intent to find alternative funding and keep seeking MLS expansion. The Orlando downtown soccer stadium moved closer to securing funding on August 8, 2013, when Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer reached an agreement on a deal to provide financial support for a variety of Orlando projects including the new MLS soccer stadium. The last piece in stadium funding was an October 2013 vote on using an existing tourism tax to fund the final quarter of the $80 million stadium project. On October 22, 2013, the Orange County Board of Commissioners voted 5–2 to approve the use of $20 million in tourist development tax funds to build an $84 million multi-purpose soccer stadium in downtown Orlando. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced on December 11, 2013, that the 2016 and 2017 NCAA Women's College Soccer Championship would be held at the new stadium. On August 4, 2014, the team announced that the stadium location would be moved one block west, to avoid having a delay to the opening day, due to Faith Deliverance Temple fighting the city's eminent-domain claim. The new location resulted in the closure of Parramore Avenue between Church Street and Central Boulevard in February 2015, as the stadium was built right on top of where the road currently runs. The club played their 2015 MLS inaugural season home matches at
Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Cheez-It Bowl and Florida Classic. The ...
. On January 13, 2016, club president Phil Rawlins announced that construction of the team's stadium was taking four months longer than expected and that the team would remain at the Citrus Bowl (since renamed
Camping World Stadium Camping World Stadium is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Amway Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, ...
) for the 2016 season. On March 5, 2017, Orlando City began the 2017 season by hosting
New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owne ...
in the stadium's inaugural match.
Cyle Larin Cyle Christopher Larin (; born April 17, 1995) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Belgian First Division A team Club Brugge and the Canada national team. After playing college soccer for the UConn Huskies, La ...
scored the first goal in stadium history as Orlando won 1–0 in front of a sellout crowd of 25,550. On July 10, 2019, Orlando City progressed to their first
U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Ope ...
semi-final, defeating
New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owne ...
on penalties after a 1–1 draw. The game received viral media coverage for what became known as "The Running of The Wall" when NYCFC won the coin toss for the penalty shoot-out and elected to kick the penalties in front of an empty South Stand, the opposite side of the stadium to The Wall where the Orlando City supporters were located. The Orlando supporters took it upon themselves to run en masse down the length of the concourse and fill up the stand directly behind the goal the penalties were being taken. Adam Grinwis saved two penalties during the shootout win. On May 12, 2021, Orlando City majority owner Flavio Augusto da Silva announced he was in advanced negotiations with
Zygi Zygi ( el, Ζύγι; tr, Terazi) is a small village on the south coast of Cyprus, between Limassol and Larnaca. Before 1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United S ...
and
Mark Wilf Mark Wilf (born 1962) is an American businessman who is the president and co-owner of the Minnesota Vikings, and chairman and co-owner of Orlando City SC. Biography Born to a Jewish family, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Wilf, who were both Ho ...
, owners of the Minnesota Vikings of the
NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the maj ...
, for the sale of the club including the stadium and other related soccer assets. The combined value of the deal was estimated at $400-450 million. The sale was completed on July 21, 2021.


Financing

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 US ...
's owners announced on May 29, 2015, that the stadium would be privately funded by Orlando City SC and not the city. They also announced they would upgrade the stadium's capacity from 19,000 seats, to somewhere between 25,000 and 28,000 seats. The new plan was unveiled on July 31, increasing capacity to 25,500 by adding seats to the south end to maximize seats without major design changes that would set back the project by an additional year. Costs also rose from $110 million to $155 million. As part of the private funding venture for the new stadium, at least $15 million has come from 30 foreign investors in countries such as Brazil and China via the EB-5 investment program, which grants American visas in exchange for a $500,000 investment in the project. More foreign investors looking to obtain green cards through the EB-5 program are joining this project, which has already created around 1000 jobs and is expected to create around 1000 more in an area that much needed its economic growth.


Design

The team released artistic renderings of the stadium on December 11, 2012. On September 30, 2013, the architectural firm
Woods Bagot Woods Bagot is a global architectural and consulting practice founded in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in the design and planning of buildings across a wide variety of sectors and disciplines. Former names of the practice include Woo ...
released their drawings of the stadium on their website. The team announced that these drawings were released without their knowledge or input, and that they had not selected an architect yet. Woods Bagot proceed to remove the images from their website. The design phase began on January 7, 2014, when Mayor
Buddy Dyer John Hugh "Buddy" Dyer (born August 7, 1958) is an American politician who is the 32nd Mayor of Orlando. First elected in 2003, he is Orlando's longest-serving mayor. He is a member of the Florida Democratic Party. Previously he represented Or ...
and some of the Orlando City SC staff traveled to
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
to begin working with the design firm Populous. The original renderings of the stadium proposed 18,000 seats, including 2,500 club seats. It would also have 300 seats in specialty suites. The stadium's square footage is about , with devoted to the bowl. It was also supposedly going to have bars, retail shops, and restaurants. Additional renderings and information about the stadium were released on June 10, 2014. The stadium has an open plaza, where those passing by can see inside, since the field is below street level. It was initially planned to have a seating capacity of 19,500, with the structural ability to expand to 25,000 in the future. This was changed in May 2015 to simply building room for 25,000 in the initial construction, rather than waiting for another construction period. The field is grass, with canopies over fans to protect them from the elements and to increase noise levels. A four times life size lion sculpture was planned to overlook the entrance. Just before a game began, the lion would rotate 180° to "watch" the action. A festival plaza lined with palm trees on the south end of the plaza, just outside the main entrance at Church Street and Terry Avenue was built (the streets are closed to vehicles during events). A balcony-style bar just below the video scoreboard with a 360° view was planned as well. A seating section on the north end is dedicated to members of supporters' clubs. As proposed — and if building codes allow — it has no seats, but rails and extra room for "
safe standing Safe standing is a measure of design in stadia to ensure that spectators are able to stand safely during events. It is important in the context of association football in the United Kingdom, where a series of fatal incidents led to legislation r ...
". The 3,811-capacity section, known as "The Wall" began as a small but ardent collection of fans from the two main supporter groups, The Ruckus and Iron Lion Firm. The supporters' section would also have its own "pub-style" area.
Heineken Heineken Lager Beer ( nl, Heineken Pilsener), or simply Heineken () is a pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 Fe ...
announced a partnership with multiple MLS teams on November 12, 2014, including Orlando City, making Heineken the official beer of the team as well as giving Heineken naming rights to the ground level bar on the south side of the stadium. In addition to the announcement, a new rendering of the south side from inside the stadium was released.
Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
was announced as the team's "Official Technology Partner" on December 17, 2014, in exchange for Panasonic providing on-field and fascia LED boards, the main scoreboard on the south end of the field, and dozens of flat panel TV screens throughout the stadium in suites, offices and work areas. In addition, Panasonic provides security cameras, control room and other key components for the new stadium. The stadium includes 49 rainbow-colored seats in Section 12 as a memorial that honors the victims of the 2016
Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old man, killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. Orlando Police officers shot and killed him after a three-hour standoff. In a 9- ...
.


International soccer matches


Men's matches


Women's matches


Other notable soccer matches


CONCACAF Champions League

Due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
,
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...
selected Exploria Stadium to host the latter stages of the delayed
2020 CONCACAF Champions League The 2020 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2020 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 55th edition of the premier footba ...
in one centralized and neutral location. With the competition paused in March at the quarter-final stage, three of the four ties had already had the first leg contested. Los Angeles FC vs Cruz Azul was the only outstanding first leg and was changed to a single-leg match as a result. All games were played behind closed doors.


Florida Cup


Friendlies


MLS All-Stars


NCAA


NWSL


U.S. Open Cup


Other sports


Football

In May 2019,
Cure Bowl The Cure Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game that has been played in December of each year in Orlando, Florida since 2015. It was originally held at Camping World Stadium before moving to Exploria Stadium in 2022. The Cure Bowl ...
officials announced the
college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most o ...
game would be moved to Exploria Stadium from
Camping World Stadium Camping World Stadium is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Amway Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, ...
. It was the stadium's first non-soccer event. It moved back to
Camping World Stadium Camping World Stadium is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Amway Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, ...
in 2020 after it was acquired by
ESPN Events ESPN Events is an American multinational sporting event promoter owned by ESPN Inc. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and shares its operations with SEC Network and formerly with ESPNU. The corporation organizes sporting events f ...
but returned the following year.


Other events


Concerts


Gallery


References


External links


City of Orlando Venues: MLS Soccer StadiumExploria Stadium
at Orlando City SC {{NCAA Division I FBS bowl game stadium navbox 2017 establishments in Florida Major League Soccer stadiums USL Championship stadiums National Women's Soccer League stadiums Buildings and structures in Orlando, Florida Soccer venues in Florida Sports venues completed in 2017 Sports venues in Orlando, Florida CONCACAF Gold Cup stadiums American football venues in Florida