While Orlando is a one sports town as far as major leagues are concerned soon we might be getting a second sport. Major League Soccer has all but promised Orlando a team, the catch being that a soccer specific stadium be built as the Citrus Bowl where the Orlando City Lions play is far too large for the small but growing following that soccer has here in America. The main questions have been when, where, and how to pay for it. Back in October, 2012 we had a survey done here on the site asking where the new soccer specific stadium should be built, Downtown won with the 436/Semoran area coming in with a close second. Despite the majority of locals seeming to think the stadium should be in downtown most of the rumors coming from the closed door talks seem to point towards a stadium that is built on the southern end of the Orange County Convention Center. The main issue standing between Orlando and it's MLS dreams though has been funding. Last week State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, and state Rep. Bryan Nelson, R-Apopka, proposed a bill that would allow adding MLS franchises (though limited the number to two within in the state) to the list of professional sports teams already eligible to receive $2 million a year in sales tax subsidies. Governor Rick Scott expressed support of the bill. This would open the door to some funds from the state but with the estimated stadium cost being just over $100 million the state funds would barely scratch the surface.
Then on Friday, February 15th, highly successful Brazilian businessman Flávio Augusto da Silva joined the Orlando City Lion's ownership group with a plan that eventually makes him the primary owner. The plan calls for Augusto da Silva's investment in the team to increase as the transition to MLS takes place. The team would need an estimated $80 million to solidify the transition, with Augusto da Silva being the presumed primary investor.
The Orlando Sentinel, who broke the news of Augusto da Silva joining the Lion's investors group, breaks down the estimated transition expenses as $30 million from the team plus another $50 million for MLS franchise joining fees, $30 million in state sales taxes, $25 million in hotel taxes from the county, and $20 million from the city that would mostly be in land costs. The Orlando Sentinel article also cited Lion's president Phil Rawlins pointing to a study commissioned by the team that shows a MLS team playing in a downtown stadium would produce a $1.3 billion economic impact over 30 years. This may point to a new transition in the talks that would keep the City Lions in the City.
We started a meme encouraging the team to stay within the city limits back in October, 2012 when our poll results showed a majority of people wanting to keep the team within the city limits. While we still are not sure where the planned stadium will go with Augusto da Silva now on board the pieces all look to now be in place for the MLS talks to really start heating up.
