By MATT STYPULKOSKI
Orlando City fans have officially “Filled the Bowl.”
The expansion side announced Monday morning that the team’s first-ever MLS game against fellow newcomer New York City FC, which is set to be played at the 60,000-seat Citrus Bowl, has been sold out.
The announcement follows a nearly month-long campaign by Orlando City to move tickets in an effort to fill the stadium for its inaugural match.
The two new sides are scheduled to open their MLS campaigns Sunday at 5 p.m. The match will be televised on ESPN2.
Here are some more of Monday’s MLS news and notes:
CREW STADIUM TO BE RE-NAMED ON TUESDAY
In 1999, Crew Stadium opened as the United States’ first soccer-specific stadium. Now, 17 years later, the venue is set for a name change.
The Columbus Crew announced on Monday that the club has struck a naming-rights deal for its stadium. The new name will be revealed at a press conference Tuesday morning.
In addition to Crew matches, the Columbus stadium has hosted a number of U.S. Men’s National Team games over the past 17 years, including eight FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and four “Dos a Cero” wins over Mexico.
FORMER TORONTO FC MIDFIELDER BRADLEY ORR RETIRES
Bradley Orr hasn’t appeared on the field since starting for Toronto FC on Sept. 6 of last season. Now, that 90-minute performance will go down as his last as a professional soccer player.
“As of now I am retired from football,” Orr tweeted on Monday morning. “I’ve loved every minute of my career and I’ve got no regrets whatsoever only great memories. Thank you!”
The 32-year-old midfielder, who was on loan to Toronto from Blackburn Rovers last season, played in 19 MLS games, including 14 starts. His only goal came helped Toronto rescue a 2-2 draw against Sporting Kansas City in stoppage time on May 23. He also tallied one assist.
Prior to his stint in Toronto, Orr had played for Newcastle United, Burnley, Bristol City, Queens Park Rangers, Ipswich Town and Blackpool over a 12-year career.
REVOLUTION ADD TYLER RUDY, LONDON WOODBERRY
Tyler Rudy and London Woodberry have been on trial with the New England Revolution throughout the preseason. On Monday morning, they both officially became a part of the squad.
Woodberry, a 23-year-old defender, made his professional debut with FC Dallas in 2013, making eight appearances before spending last season with Arizona United in the USL. Prior to turning pro, Woodberry was named a NSCAA Third Team All-American selection during his senior year at the University of Maryland.
Rudy, a 21-year-old midfielder, arrives in New England after going undrafted. In four years at Georgetown University, Rudy tallied seven goals and 12 assists in 88 appearances, including a run to the College Cup Final in 2012. As a senior, he received Second Team All-Big East honors.
—
What do you think of the Orlando City news? Excited about the Crew’s new stadium rights deal?
Share your thoughts below.
I hope it’s not gonna be Barbasol Field or something stupid like that….Columbus is home to a number of huge, fortune 500 company headquarters and they need a big name on the stadium which sees thousands of cars drive by on 71 South every day. I think Balotelli is too big of an A-hole to be accepted by MLS fans.
Not me! I love me some A-holes! They make the game fun. I thank God for Latrell Spreewell, Anthony Mason (R.I.P.), Michael Jordan, Terrell Owens, Bill Walton (admittedly more d-bag than A-hole), Joey Barton, Bill Laimbeer(sp?), Rodman, Rick Mahorn, Allen Iverson, Bill Romanowsky, John Rocker…
Honestly what would sport be without dill weeds who are physically talented but emotional stunted?
BTWi Gould have just saw the Detroit Pistons and left it there.
Balotelli s well liked by all his team mates and even ex-managers, perhaps excepting Mourinho at Chelsea. He makes large donations to animal shelters and occasionally gives generous amounts to homeless people. He made headlines for letting idiot friend set off fireworks in his bathroom, but that’s idiocy, not ass-holeness.
Don’t believe the UK gutter press.
In any event, Loverpool paid16 million pounds for him, about $24 million. He’s not coming to MLS.
Freudian slip. Liverpool.
Nice to see Crew Stadium finally get a naming deal. Hope these new sponsorships make the team profitable.
I’ve been seeing rumors of Balotelli going to Orlando. Any truth to that?
I’ve seen those rumors too, but I’ve also seen that he “wants an american lifestyle”. From what I’ve seen of Balotelli, that probably means he wants to marry a Khardasian, so I’m guessing LA 2 next season.
Dude, that will certainly be a smash hit
Bravo Orlando City.
Strong organizations like this make the league.
There’s no way MLS lets this game get cancelled. That would be an absolute tragedy to piss away this good energy. Cancellation would alienate a whole lot of people on the cusp of becoming new MLS fans in a new market.
It would be a real travesty to let that happen. I’m certain that both the players and the owners are well aware of the stakes. I just really hope the federal mediation comes through in the clutch. Owners: give the veterans some freedom of movement and open this season on time so Kaka can show us how the game of soccer is played!!!
From the headline, it sounds like they’re going to call it Tuesday Stadium . . .
Anything that keeps the name “Two” (even if it’s “Tue”) associated with the stadium is good in my book.
Estadio Dos a Cero!
I’m not a marketing expert or sports owner, but getting naming rights for an old stadium that needs serious renovations is the first step to start thinking about a new stadium, right.
If you ask me, and If i work for Columbus city council, thats a plus because you are showing you can get support and MONEY from a local or national company.
Maybe the new owner is taking steps towards a new stadium and why not, imagine a hot new shiny stadium for Columbus and the national team.
+1
Four 2-0 victories. I had no idea, that is awesome.
Question of the day, did Orlando made a big mistake in making a 18,000 cookie cutter stadium.
When they could of done a 25,000 to 30,000 seat stadium with a nice design and be the first MLS team to have a 30,000 seat stadium with grass and actually have fans in the stadium.
I think they just missed a big opportunity, they could of done a red bull arena and probably sold out every game.
Expansion Geek: How many usernames do you post under?
I’m soccer god 🙂
Stand under me and I will lead you to soccer greatness.
Don’t talk bad about others, consider yourself lucky for living in Mother Earth my son.
Amen.
I defintely think the 18k stadiums are the wrong way to go.
I realize 30k stadiums cost a bunch, but balance that with the idea that 18k stadiums are already too small already most of the time. Hope it is expandable.
The reports all said it would have the capability to expand. Like BMO
this^. Toronto did it right. 18-20K expandable to 30K is about right for most teams I think. Toronto’s expansion video showing all the phases of expansion are really impressive. It isn’t even the seats or roof that impressed me. It is the other additions like restaurants and club sections I found really cool. They started with a Texas high school football stadium (don’t laugh, they are pretty baller here in Texas) and built it up to VIP status.
Texas high school stadiums are not laughable, they’re obscene as markers for what school boards/districts value in the lone star state. Sure, constantly vote down school bonds but build a 100 mil high school football stadium. As for MLS in Orlando, Toronto, or Texas, don’t use formulas or examples from any other sport. The beautiful game should not be corrupted by American imperialism!
Football is king in TX. The stadiums in Mansfield, Denton and the Mid-cities of DFW are better than most of the MLS stadiums of MLS 1.0 and possibly 2.0
They put their money where there mouth is in TX!
Well you just proved his point about TX valuing football over education by not knowing how to use the correct form of “their”. I wouldn’t have said anything if you hadn’t walked right into that.
come to a game in Chicago…
Orlando made a mistake with the actual design. Orlando summers are brutal and they left too much open space and not enough cover. I’m tired of these cheap stadiums
hopefully we see more March games there than July. MLS has got to establish something with their schedule, about half the teams can host in Feb/March while go on the road in July/Aug. but ya anything they can do to make the extreme climates more bearable the better. glad to have these SSS’s but a lot of them could use updates at least the more recent ones are in good locations.
as for the capacity, better to build smaller 18-20,000 and fill it out consistently. Keeps demand, atmosphere high as well as tv viewership numbers (real $$$) growing.
That said I would love to see MLS stadiums start averaging 25-40k. Just seems like a void between the NFL stadiums in the 70k range and the SSS in the 20k range where most USA, big MLS & other international games fall.
Maybe i’m misreading your comment, but i think you were mislead by the Orlando City article. The stadium pictured in this article is not the SSS. What’s pictured above is the Citrus Bowl (CB). I assume the new SSS will have covered portions….unlike the CB. AND the SSS will not have turf, which what the CB has.
which are these cheap stadiums you are tired of, the last 2 SSS were 200 million dollar stadiums.
for reference, this one was designed by the same people who did Sporting Park, but is $100 million dollars cheaper, are you already tired of this new stadium? I dont understand what you mean
Even the $200 million KC stadium design is flawed. I think a 40,000 seat in the power & light district would’ve been better
Also the championship game in KC was 15 degrees played in december. If you had a stadium that was built with complete cover and a roof (like the stadiums in france) the game would’ve been more comfortable for the fans and players. It probably would’ve been 50 or 60 degrees inside
You sound pretty suave with your reference to the P&L but do you actually live in Kansas City? I lived 7 out of the last 8 years of my life in Kansas City and your comments are pretty coo-coo.
demand is better than empty seats and I wouldn’t assume that there will be numbers like this consistently or that they didnt give away or make super cheap, 1/3rd of those tickets
nice news…but strike will wipe out all the effort…
Great job by the fans, club and general marketing. Good work, Orlando.