Orlando City SC on Thursday announced that the club "has sold out the 2,000 standing room only seats for its MLS debut" on Sunday and "expects a crowd of 62,000 at the Citrus Bowl for the match" against NYC FC, according to Iliana Limon Romero of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. The club "made the extra tickets available for sale on Wednesday and sold them within 24 hours." The club "previously had announced it had achieved its goal of distributing 60,000 to 'Fill the Bowl' for the opener" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/6). In Orlando, George Diaz writes the buzz "is big," as the city "finally has a top-tier professional sports franchise that isn't afraid to roar." Soccer "is giving Orlando world-wide street cred." The Magic's "downfall" coincides with the MLS expansion team's rise, which "gives us something to cheer about" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/6). Also in Orlando, Scott Maxwell writes the ticket demand for Sunday's game "raises a question that plenty of readers keep asking me: If 62,000 people want to watch soccer, why are we building a stadium that seats only 19,500?" The answer: Because pro sports leagues "view taxpayers as an endless source of money." Right now, they "want a 19,500-seat stadium," but if there is "ever a desire to expand, you can bet taxpayers will be asked for more" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/6).
READY TO GO IN GOTHAM: In London, Rory Smith notes NYC FC's MLS debut on Sunday "will be the culmination of almost two years of work, since the new club were conjured into existence" by the owners of EPL club Manchester City and the Yankees. NYC FC Technical Dir Claudio Reyna: "It has been an adventure. Getting a club up and running from scratch. We had to find a place to train, to work on recruitment, getting a coaching staff, a medical team, a playing squad together. We had to get the right characters in place, to try and create the right culture. There has been so much going on, all at the same time. We have just had to stay as calm as possible. All of the other expansion teams were building on an existing framework. We did not have any of that." But NYC FC's home games at Yankee Stadium are "not ideal." It "will take three days" to change over from baseball to soccer, "with the capacity reduced, the pitcher’s mound moved and a risk that the outfield may not be flawless when the baseball season starts in April." Around 14,000 people "have bought season tickets" for NYC FC. What will "truly determine whether New York City can be counted as a success, though, is not the sort of thing that is splashed across billboards." It is the roots they "set down in their community" (LONDON TIMES, 3/6).
