Today we visit the city of Orlando and their extraordinary Exploria Stadium!

History:

Exploria Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in downtown Orlando, Florida. The stadium is located along West Church Street in the Parramore neighborhood west of Downtown Orlando. It is the home of Orlando City SC, which entered Major League Soccer (MLS) as an expansion franchise in 2015, and their National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) affiliate club, the Orlando Pride. 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, NWSL, and USL 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) 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 and NCAA Women's College Cup, numerous Florida Cup games, the MLS Combine in 2018 and 2019, and the 2019 MLS All-Star Game. Away from soccer, the stadium hosted the 2019 Cure Bowl, a college football bowl game. In January 2021, it was announced Exploria Stadium would be the venue of the 2022 Special Olympics USA opening ceremony.

The stadium has an open plaza, where those passing by can see inside since the field is 8 feet (2.4 m) 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". 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.

Orlando City SC'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.

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Exploria Stadium Mod:
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