In a city known worldwide for its attractions, Orlando City Soccer Club is perhaps the newest member of the vaunted Orlando tourism pantheon. Orlando doesn’t have a great history when it comes to professional sports, with the notable example of the Orlando Magic coming up on a 30-year championship drought. Orlando City Soccer Club has rallied the city behind them in their opening years, drawing over 60,000 fans to their inaugural game on March 8, 2015, and averaging roughly 28,000 in attendance since then. In 2017, the team opened their own soccer-specific stadium in downtown Orlando, just a few blocks away from their initial home Camping World Stadium (then known as the Citrus Bowl). Despite stellar attendance numbers and a new stadium, OCSC has not yet been able to buck the trend of Orlando’s professional sports past. In their brief history, Orlando City has failed to make the playoffs in each of their professional seasons, earning the marks for longest losing run and longest winless run en route to finishing dead last in their recently concluded 2018 season.
2019 Schedule
Orlando City hopes to turn the ship around in the 2019 campaign under head coach James O’Connor’s first full season at the helm. (This is Orlando City’s third head coach in four seasons.) MLS releases their schedules at the beginning of the calendar year, so be sure to check back here for an updated home schedule once it is announced.
Update (1/7/19): The 2019 MLS Schedule has been announced! The Orlando City Lions start their season right here at home against rivals New York City FC on March 2 at 2:30 PM. Other notable home matchups include a visit from reigning MLS champions Atlanta United on August 23, OCSC’s first match against new expansion team FC Cincinnati on May 19, and a visit from the LA Galaxy (featuring the always-exciting Zlatan Ibrahimovic) on May 24. For the full schedule, click here.
2019 MLS All-Star Game
One thing that has been announced by MLS for next season is that Orlando will host the annual MLS All-Star Week, a midsummer event that brings the league’s best players together for skills competitions and an exhibition match against a prominent international club. This year’s opponent has not been revealed yet, but previous years have featured matchups against Juventus, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. As with the 2019 schedule, this post will be updated as more information becomes available.
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