Orlando City SC officials are "monitoring interest in tickets to get a stronger sense of the demand that exists for soccer" in the market, according to Paul Tenorio of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. The team yesterday announced that it "opened corner sections in the lower bowl" of the Citrus Bowl for the next home game, March 21 against the Whitecaps, to increase capacity to 23,000. A source said that the capacity "might go up again if demand requires." The team originally "set a maximum attendance of 20,000 for its remaining home games, which matches the expected attendance at the new soccer specific stadium for next season, but that number will be fluid." Orlando City Founder & President Phil Rawlins indicated that the team is "also open to possibly constructing its new stadium with a higher capacity than the currently-planned 20,000." Rawlins: "We really don’t know how big a market this is for (soccer) right now." Tenorio notes Orlando City's stadium "was designed to accommodate potential expansion to a capacity of about 28,000," but the team is "now looking into whether it is viable or productive to begin that expansion earlier than expected" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/11). In Orlando, David Whitley writes under the header, "Get Used To It: Orlando City And Lions Are Here To Stay." Whitley: "This is another column about soccer. If that makes you want to kick me in the groin, I understand." Those "weren't 62,510 mannequins at the Citrus Bowl" for Sunday's inaugural match, but "real humans, mostly under 40, and they came in all varieties." Whitley: "The crowd reminded me of the old Coke commercial where hundreds of young people from around the world gathered on an Italian hillside and sang, 'It's the real thing'" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/11).
GOING TO CALIFORNIA? USL club Sacramento Republic President & co-Founder Warren Smith said that team officials are "feeling cautious optimism" about MLS bringing an expansion team to the city. Smith: "We're still having conversations with folks in the league and involved in the process and the league itself, but at the same time we're trying to be respectful of the process." However, Smith said that he "can't handicap what Sacramento's chances are at this point." He added that given the size and visibility of Miami as a market, MLS "definitely wants to be there, if not now [then] definitely sooner rather than later" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 3/10).
