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Did Orlando City's downtown stadium open for the 2016 season, as the club said it would?

The Roadmap Reckoner · Orlando City Stadium (now Inter&Co Stadium), downtown Orlando, Orange County, Florida · last checked 2026-11-04

Verdict	DELIVERED LATE, by 364 days
Promiser	Orlando City Soccer Club, in its release of June 10, 2014 (working with the City of Orlando)
Place	Orlando City Stadium (now Inter&Co Stadium), downtown Orlando, Orange County, Florida
Promised	Before the 2016 Major League Soccer season: "The new stadium is scheduled to open prior to the 2016 Major League Soccer season." (Orlando City SC release, June 10, 2014)
Delivered / status	First official match March 5, 2017, 364 days after the club's March 6, 2016 home opener (counted by the entry). The club announced the move to 2017 itself on January 13, 2016; the 2014 groundbreaking was kept
Last checked	2026-11-04

Verdict: DELIVERED LATE, by 364 days. In its release of June 10, 2014, Orlando City Soccer Club wrote: "The new stadium is scheduled to open prior to the 2016 Major League Soccer season" [C20, C21]. The first official match at the stadium was played on March 5, 2017 [C49, C50, C52]. The club's own 2017 preview page lists a match on March 6, 2016 among the club's "previous two Opening Days" [C51]. March 6, 2016 to March 5, 2017 is 364 days (counted by this entry). The club made the change itself, on January 13, 2016, saying it would "play the entire 2016 season in the Orlando Citrus Bowl" and concentrate on "opening in 2017" [C40, C42]. The 2017 date was kept. The 2014 groundbreaking was also kept: the club's release of October 16, 2014 says "an official groundbreaking ceremony was held" [C23, C24].

Last checked: November 4, 2026.

The promise. The club's own June 2014 words: open "prior to the 2016 Major League Soccer season" [C21]. The league's website had reported, on April 21, 2014, that the club would "open the new stadium in the spring of 2016" [C15, C17]. The first date this entry could read was earlier still: summer 2015 [C7, C8, C10].
The slip. The target moved three times in the record: from summer 2015 to the spring of 2016 (April 2014), to "summer 2016" (May 29, 2015), and to 2017 (January 13, 2016) [C10, C17, C30, C42].
The reason. For the 2014 move to 2016, the league's website gave "a snag involving land rights" [C16]. For the 2017 move, the club's only stated reason was that "stadium construction is taking a little longer than anticipated" [C41]. No record read ties the 2017 move to any other cause.
The money. It began as a city-owned stadium, with a $69 million budget cap in the agreement and $30 million cash from the club [C73, C76]. It ended as a club-owned stadium that the club says was "100 percent privately funded at a cost of $155 million" [C55].
Today. Open and in use, about 25,000 capacity, per the club [C54, C56].

The promise

The promiser is a private club, Orlando City Soccer Club, working with the City of Orlando, which was to own the stadium at first [C11, C63]. The first club text of this promise that this entry could read is its release of June 10, 2014, dated by the page's own data [C20]. It says: "The new stadium is scheduled to open prior to the 2016 Major League Soccer season" [C21]. The same release gave the size as "Capacity: 19,500 total capacity (approximate)" [C22].

The league's website reported the same target in April 2014. Its report, dated April 21, 2014 by page data [C15], says the club "opted to play the entirety of the season in the recently renovated Citrus Bowl and open the new stadium in the spring of 2016" [C17], and quotes the club's Brett Lashbrook: "We decided to just play the first year in the Citrus Bowl, and then make a big splash in 2016." [C18] That wording is the league's report of the club, not a club release; this entry did not find the club's April 2014 text.

An earlier date came first. On November 19, 2013 the league named the club its 21st franchise [C5, C66], and its page said the club would play in the Citrus Bowl in 2015, "Then, in 2015, the Lions will open their MLS era in the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium" [C8], "before moving into a new 18,000-seat soccer stadium in downtown Orlando later that summer" [C7]. On March 31, 2014, the day the City Council approved the construction agreement [C67], the league reported an $84 million stadium "which Orlando City officials expect to open in the summer of 2015" [C10]. Those are the league's words about what club officials expected. This entry counts lateness from the 2016 target, because that is the date the club put in its own words, and notes the 2015 target as the first one.

The city's agreement with the club, dated April 11, 2014 [C69], defines its contract completion date as "February 1, 2016 as such date may be extended pursuant to the terms and conditions of this Agreement" [C70]. The city was to "make commercially reasonable efforts to deliver and make the Project Site available" by "no later than October 31, 2014", and the completion date was to be "automatically extended by one (1) day for each day after the Project Site Delivery Date" [C71, C119, C72]. This entry did not find when the site was delivered, so it does not count lateness against that contract date, which is a different measure from the club's public season target. February 1, 2016 [C70] to March 5, 2017 [C49, C52] is 398 days (counted by this entry).

Timeline

July 31, 2013 (page data). The club's financing plan for the county's tourist-tax hearings: a "two-phase plan, with the first phase estimated at $85 million"; $20 million asked from the tourist tax; $30 million from the owners; the team to carry overruns [C1, C2, C3, C4].
October 7, 2013. The City Council approves a memorandum of understanding [C62]. It had the stadium "owned and operated by the City" and required "a contribution towards the construction costs in the amount of $30,000,000.00" from the club [C63, C64].
November 19, 2013. The league names the franchise; its page gives summer 2015 for the move into an 18,000-seat stadium [C5, C7, C8, C66].
March 31, 2014. The council approves the construction agreement [C67]. The city's minutes: the club "will serve as the developer" and will "cover construction cost overruns" [C68]. The league reports $84 million and summer 2015 [C9, C10].
April 11, 2014. The agreement is dated [C69]: about 18,000 seats [C75], a budget cap of "Million Dollars ($69,000,000.00)" [C73], a site valued at "at least Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000)" [C74], the club's contribution "Thirty Million Dollars (US $30,000,000.00)" [C76], and $20 million to be made available under the county interlocal agreement [C107].
April 21, 2014. The move to 2016, as reported by the league [C15, C17, C18]. The reason it gave: "a snag involving land rights" [C16]. Lashbrook told the league the club made the decision "partly because it was unclear when the land deal would be resolved by the City of Orlando" [C16]. It added, citing the Orlando Sentinel, that the owners of one parcel "appear to be holding out for a lucrative deal before construction can begin", and named that parcel as "the Faith Deliverance Temple, a family-owned church" [C118, C19]. This entry did not read the Sentinel's story or any account from the church.
June 10, 2014. The club's renderings release: open "prior to the 2016 Major League Soccer season" [C20, C21, C22].
October 16, 2014. The groundbreaking release: "an official groundbreaking ceremony was held", and the venue "will be home to City beginning in the 2016 season" [C23, C24, C25].
February 9, 2015. The city approves a planned development ordinance for a stadium seating "approximately 19,000 people" [C79, C80].
March 11, 2015 (page data). Orange County's newsroom: "The Orlando City Lions will play in their new stadium beginning in the 2016 season", with "capacity for 19,500", in the county's "$94.5 million venues package" [C99, C100, C101, C102].
April 25, 2015. A post by the club's founder, Phil Rawlins, carried on the club's site: "$40M is being invested in the stadium by the club", with "$115M in total" and "the $30M we seek from the State" [C26, C27, C28].
May 29, 2015. The club takes it private: it "will privately fund the entire downtown stadium construction", with "an expected completion date of summer 2016", capacity "between 25,000 and 28,000", the city agreeing "to sell the property" [C29, C30, C31, C32]. The club "will become the sole owners and operators of the venue" [C33]. The league adds that the state money "was delayed in the legislature" and that the change "takes Orange County off the hook for the $20 million it had pledged" [C34, C35]. The city's record says the club "would fund vertical construction of the Stadium and would own and operate the Stadium" [C81].
July 31, 2015. The club: "Construction on the stadium has begun and the projected timeline remains for the summer of 2016" [C36, C37]; seating of "approximately 25,500" [C39]; its majority owner is quoted: "we look forward to hosting the first games in the new stadium later next year." [C38]
September 30, 2015. A city planning official clears "the addition of 2,250 seats to expand seating capacity to 25,800" [C83].
January 13, 2016. The move to 2017 (below) [C40, C41, C42]. That was 53 days before March 6, 2016 [C51] (counted by this entry).
January 25, 2016. The council votes "unanimously to approve the sale and purchase" of about 11.8 acres [C87, C88]. The contract price is $17,990,280 [C86]. The league reports the stadium is "currently scheduled to open in time for the start of the 2017 season" [C112].
June 24, 2016. The deed is dated June 24, 2016 (read on the page image) [C94], and stamped as recorded "06/27/2016" [C93]. The closing deadline had been moved to this date by an extension [C91].
March 3, 2017. The club's preview: the club "begins its 2017 Major League Soccer (MLS) campaign in its brand new downtown stadium" on March 5 [C49].
March 5, 2017. The first official match. The club's own later account, posted in 2020, says "25,527 fans packed into Orlando City Stadium for the first time" [C50, C52, C53].
Today. The club's stadium page says "Opened in March 2017" [C54].

What changed, and why, in the record's own words

The date. From summer 2015 [C10], to the spring of 2016 [C17], to "prior to the 2016 Major League Soccer season" [C21], to "summer 2016" [C30], to 2017 [C42]. The club's statement of January 13, 2016 says: "Unfortunately, stadium construction is taking a little longer than anticipated. Therefore, in order to provide enough time, we have taken the prudent decision to play the entire 2016 season in the Orlando Citrus Bowl, and concentrate our construction efforts on being fully prepared for opening in 2017." [C41, C42] It came after the club's July 2015 line that the timeline "remains for the summer of 2016" [C37]. The pages read give no reason beyond "a little longer than anticipated".
The owner. From a city-owned stadium [C63, C11] to a club-owned one [C33, C81]. The city's own explanation, in the mayor's update to the council on January 25, 2016: "Due to challenges with state funding, a plan was created to privately develop the soccer stadium." [C85] The league's May 2015 report says the state's $30 million "was delayed in the legislature" [C34]. Those explain the change of owner, not the change of date. No record read connects either one to the 2017 date.
The size. The club's release of May 29, 2015 gave its reason for the larger stadium: "due to the overwhelming market response to Lions’ matches at home" [C29, C31]. About 18,000 seats in the agreement [C75], about 19,500 in the renderings [C22], about 19,000 in the ordinance [C80], "between 25,000 and 28,000" in May 2015 [C31], "approximately 25,500" in July 2015 [C39], 25,800 in the planning official's letter [C83], and "Capacity: 25,000" on the club's page today [C56].
The land. The city sold the site to the club rather than owning it [C32, C88]. The contract price was $17,990,280, "$35 psf", or "$21,090,280" in all with site preparation [C86, C89, C90]. The deed states "the consideration amount of $22,085,085.00" [C92]. This entry did not find what accounts for the difference between that and the contract figures.

What it cost

At the 2014 agreement. The budget cap was $69 million, with the site valued at $15 million or more on top, and $30 million cash from the club [C73, C74, C76]. The league reported "the $84 million stadium" [C10] and the mayor was quoted: "It will be a great stadium whether it's an $85 million stadium or $110 million." [C13]
Public money planned. The agreement defines $20 million "to be made available pursuant to the Interlocal Agreement", from "Contract TDT Bonds", which are tourist-tax bonds [C77, C107]. The county's page of March 2015 lists the stadium in its "$94.5 million venues package" of tourism-tax dollars [C102]. In May 2015 the league reported that going private "takes Orange County off the hook for the $20 million it had pledged" [C35]. This entry did not find a record of how much of that $20 million, if any, was paid.
April 2015. The club's founder wrote "$115M in total", with "$40M" from the club [C27, C28]. The agreement says $30 million [C76]. This entry did not reconcile the two.
After going private. The league wrote, on a page dated January 26, 2016 by its page data, of "its privately-funded, $155 million stadium" [C44, C47]. The page's own printed update line carries the year 2015; its page data and the vote date show that is a misprint [C43, C44, C45]. The club's page today says "100 percent privately funded at a cost of $155 million" [C55], and the City of Orlando's downtown office lists "Investment: $155 million" and "INTER&Co Stadium is a 100% privately funded project" [C104, C105]. This entry read no audit or permit value for the $155 million.
The land payment. In June 2016 the club's land company signed a note to the city, "Amount of Note: $18,076,449.20", which rolls in an earlier "Promissory Note dated June 30, 2015 in the original principal amount of $6,062,007.75" [C95, C96, C114]. The contract also says the city "will return" to the club "such of the remaining balance of the Contribution" at closing [C98]; this entry did not read a closing statement.
The city's books. The city's fiscal 2024 bond disclosure says "The $15,000,000 loan was used to acquire property needed for the construction of a Major League Soccer Stadium" and "The $6,062,000 loan was used to acquire property needed for the construction of a Major League Soccer Stadium" [C57, C58]. From the table on that page, read on its image, $4,775,000 of the first and $3,112,000 of the second were outstanding on September 30, 2024 [C60, C61]. The $6,062,000 and $3,112,000 match the note's $6,062,007.75 and $3,112,008.00 [C96, C97]. This entry reads them as the same parcel; no page read says so. These are loans inside the city's own books, not a statement of what the stadium cost the public.

What this entry did not check

The club's April 2014 text. The spring 2016 target is the league's report of the club [C17]. The first club text read is June 2014 [C21].
Opening by a government record. The March 5, 2017 date rests on club pages [C49, C52]. This entry read no issued certificate of occupancy.
What caused the 2017 delay. The club said "a little longer than anticipated" [C41]. On January 25, 2016 the club was building on land of which the city still owned a significant portion, about 11.8 acres [C108, C117]. The state money had been delayed by May 2015, when the club still said summer 2016 [C34, C30], and the mayor later cited "challenges with state funding" [C85]. No record read ties either to the delay, and this entry makes no claim that they did.
Whether the February 1, 2016 date was already in the draft the council had on March 31, 2014. The council's item lists a March 21, 2014 draft [C78]; the copy read is the later signed agreement [C69].
When the site was delivered, and so whether the contract completion date was extended [C71, C72].
The county's votes and minutes. The county comptroller's site refused the fetch, so this entry read no county commission minutes, and the October 22, 2013 date comes from the city's agreement [C65].
Council meetings other than March 31, 2014 [C67] and January 25, 2016 [C85]. The October 7, 2013 approval is read from the city's later record [C62].
Later edit dates on pages read. The county's March 2015 page declares in its page data that it was last modified on January 12, 2022 [C99, C100]; the club's June 2014 renderings page, on October 7, 2014 [C20, C21]; and the club's March 3, 2017 preview, on March 4, 2017 [C49]. The words quoted are the words on those pages as fetched on November 4, 2026. This entry did not read earlier copies of them.
The state's $30 million. It rests on the club's and the league's words [C28, C34] and the mayor's update [C85]; the Legislature's record was not read.
The size at opening. The club's preview expected "a sell-out crowd of 25,500" [C50]; its recap reports 25,527 [C52]; its page today says 25,000 [C56]. This entry did not reconcile them.
Construction start. The county says it followed in November 2014 [C103]; the club said in July 2015 that construction "has begun" [C37]; the city's downtown office lists a start in the second half of 2015 [C106]. Not reconciled.
Whether the note is still outstanding, or still held by the city. Not read. It was signed in June 2016 [C95, C114].
Whether the state money ever came. The sources read say "delayed" and "challenges" [C34, C85], not the outcome.
Whether the church's owners were holding out. The league says they "appear to be", citing the Sentinel [C118]. Not read: the Sentinel's story, or anything from the church.

Sources

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