Why Not Orlando?

I’ve thought long and hard on Orlando’s chances as a MLS city before. But something this past weekend gave me a reason to think about it a little more. I think the Pro Soccer Classic at Disney World was a hit for both the city and for the MLS teams involved.

Now of course it was preseason action which means it counts for nearly nothing but in the long run this tournament, which should become an annual destination for preseason play could ultimately help the southeastern part of the country get soccer back for good in MLS.

I still believe we are years away from seeing MLS-level soccer in Florida or in the south. Let me just say that from the start here. As much as some would love to see Miami, or even Tampa Bay (man I miss those days)…or even Atlanta or somewhere in North Carolina, the one city that we tend to forget is Orlando.

The market is a decent sports market. The Magic seem well supported and there’s always been talk of adding other professional sports to the city. A MLS team wouldn’t be competing with any other pro-level sport except for late regular and post season Hoops in the NBA. And I’d be willing to think that it could attract some decent talent from overseas due to it being a popular city with foreigners.

Now of course there is no current ownership group in line and the league has never really made Orlando a top choice to expand to and there would be the need for a new stadium to be built. But as Jeff Leadbeater points out it would be a cheaper option than say attracting a MLB club to the city.

Again, it is just a thought. There’s no current talk of anything remotely happening in Orlando that would get them above a Montreal for a MLS expansion slot right now but I’d honestly love to see this city be taken a little more serious if the right pieces fell in line. I know there are a lot of “ifs” in place with this but we’re always looking for a good market for this league and this could be one.

We all mostly agree that MLS needs to eventually go back to the South at some point in the future so why not Orlando?