Amid pandemic, Orlando bolsters international image
City became center of North American soccer
In the year since the COVID19 pandemic brought the sports world to a standstill, Orlando became the unofficial capital of North American soccer.
There is no doubt that 2020 was a mixed year on the pitch for Orlando City Soccer Club. On the men’s side, the Lions broke club records while roaring into the MLS is Back tournament final and the MLS playoffs. On the women’s side, the Orlando Pride played just four matches because they withdrew from the NWSL Challenge Cup with positive COVID-19 tests.
But one of the club’s focuses amid the chaotic year had nothing to do with scorelines.
At a time when sports events closed down, Orlando hosted a combined 94 matches at Exploria Stadium and ESPN Wide World of Sports — only nine of which were closed to fans.
The ability to host games helped to absorb a year of loss for a city dependent on tourism and potentially bolstered Orlando’s bid to become a World Cup host city in 2026.
“I think that in tough times like these, it could have exposed weaknesses and instead just the opposite happened,” Greater Orlando Sports CEO Jason Siegel said. “It showed our true character. I believe that’s the reason that our community was able to come together and start the process of recovering.”
When MLS first issued its three-week shutdown last March, Orlando City CEO Alex Leitão set three goals for the club: avoid layoffs or furloughs; provide support to the community; and keep the business strong.
Leitão is a self-described optimist. In an email chain with other MLS CEOs, he brushed away speculation the league wouldn’t play another match in 2020.
“When everything started, I gave a challenge to our guys here in stadium operations that we have to put ourselves in a position to host games,” Leitão said. “We need to put ourselves in a position for when people think about where we can go to have safe and healthy soccer, they should think about us.”
That same optimism led Leitão to make the first call that led to the creation of the MLS is Back tournament.
The league was searching for a way to play matches with limited travel, leaning toward a single-site tournament with each passing day. With 17 fields and an abundance of nearby hotels, ESPN Wide World of Sports provided the most cohesive setup to lodge teams, train regularly and play matches.
Leitão was familiar with the venue, where the Lions played their entire 2014 USL season. When he called ESPN Wide World of Sports vice president Faron Kelley, he started his pitch simply — “Hey, I’m having this crazy idea I want to throw to you.”
Kelley was on board, so Leitão made a second call to Gary Stevenson, the president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures. Within an hour, he was on a Zoom call with MLS commissioner Don Garber. By the following week, the league had assembled ESPN, Disney and local officials to begin formulating plans for the tournament.
Leitão was stuck on the outside, like every other fan, watching matches from home until the final, which the Orlando and Portland front offices were allowed to attend.
For the CEO, the most moving moment was seeing the Wide World of Sports field — where the Lions played USL matches only a few years ago — transformed for the opening match.
“I know that field,” Leitão said. “I’ve been there for a year; played an entire season there. We know
exactly what’s the setup of that place, and watching it on TV, it was unbelievable what they did.”
The MLS is Back tournament gave a financial boost to MLS, Disney and local partners like Orlando Health. But the fact Orlando hosted a major tournament didn’t guarantee that Orlando City would book any upcoming matches at Exploria Stadium.
Once MLS cleared clubs to attempt game days with supporters in attendance, the Lions focused on creating protocol that could be easily applied to other teams and events outside of the league. Each match without incident helped Orlando City build trust for the future.
The club first booked the CONCACAF Champions League, then January friendlies for the United States national teams. And after years of hosting a leg of the SheBelieves Cup, which is typically held in various cities, Orlando secured all of the games.
U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski joked that Orlando became a “second home” for his staff after spending most of January and February in the city for camps and matches. U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter said there’s a sense of familiarity for the Americans now, providing a “home field” environment.
Playing matches at Exploria Stadium paid off for both national teams — they are undefeated in Orlando this year.
“You feel a real vibe within the city and in surrounding areas that you know they’re ready to be really, really successful,” Orlando Pride coach Marc Skinner said. “I hope this becomes a hub for the sport
within the country because I think it’s a really, really wonderful place to be for that.”
Bringing matches to Exploria Stadium helped to absorb the blow of the pandemic, but Leitão said it didn’t come close to closing the gap. Commissioner Garber said MLS reported $1 billion in losses, and Leitão said Orlando City saw proportionate losses.
Although Leitão believes the club will be able to welcome full-capacity attendance by this summer, he said these losses will continue through 2021 as the sports industry rights itself.
“In the end of the day, of course it was a big, big loss,” Leitão said. “Nobody was prepared for a year like that.”
A source of hope for both Leitão and Siegel is the potential built through 2020 to raise Orlando’s stock for upcoming events, such as the 2026 World Cup and the Olympics.
The pandemic forced the delay of the World Cup bid process. Without the ability to do local site visits and pitches, cities were given over a year to update and refresh their portfolios. Although COVID-19 protocols are unlikely to remain a factor in 2026, Siegel feels the past year showcased the city’s ability to adapt and strengthened its bid.
In the meantime, Orlando’s reputation as a host is now heightened and the city will continue to provide its services through 2021, including the Canadian World Cup qualifiers later this month.
“We’re getting incremental interest in our marketplace because of our World Cup bid,” Siegel said. “There’s a curiosity around what Orlando looks like, what we have on the horizon.”