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rlando City is close! As I write this article, Orlando City has just returned to the championship game of the USL with a chance to win a second league title in just three years. The average attendance at Orlando City games dwarfs any of the other teams in the league. A recent agreement in principal with the Orlando Tourism development council has moved plans for a new soccer-specific stadium in Orlando closer to being completed. Finally, a wave of support for the growth of Orlando City into the MLS is being spearheaded by the leadership of Orlando…none other more so than Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. Last week, Orlando Green and Yellow magazine had an exclusive interview with Mayor Dyer to discuss Orlando City soccer. We met at his office in City hall in downtown Orlando and explored all of the aspects of the impending move to the MLS, the impact on the local economy, and the future for Orlando as a whole with adding a second major league franchise. OGY (SEAN SLACK): Orlando city soccer is an amazing story…in three short years they have won a league title, a division title, and are advancing to the semifinals...being played tomorrow night. A report recently came out citing record attendance again at the games which are an absolute blast by the way. Can you put into words their amazing transition into Orlando and why you think this brand of soccer has caught on so fast? BD (BUDDY DYER): Well, they (OCS) have been tremendously successful on and off the field. The ownership group has been fantastic…they have involved themselves in the local community and their marketing team is tremendous. And, there really is a demand for professional soccer here in Orlando. We are striving to reach major league status and I think it is going to happen. OGY: A few weeks ago you and Orange County mayor Theresa Jacobs were able to announce an agreement
in principal between Orlando City and the Tourism development council to allocate tourism tax dollars to help fund the new stadium…A very exciting moment. However many Orlandoans do not fully understand how the tourism development taxes work…can you explain where tourism development taxes will go and why this was such an important step?....And what are some of the next steps needed to get this deal done? BD: That is a great question. Many years ago the tourism development council wanted to impose a tourism development tax on hotel rooms...current it is six cents on the dollar for any hotel room that is rented in Orange county. And, that can only be used for certain things. The sixth cent, which was added on when we built the Amway center, can only be used for tourism advertising or construction of a facility that will house a major league sports franchise. The tourism development tax we will be using for the OC stadium will be used form the growth of the first five cents. OGY: I have been involved in developing tourism business for the majority of my life here in Orlando ( Marquis International / Slack’s Tracks MCO) especially from South America…Brasil and Argentina in particular to companies like the Sports Authority, hhgregg, Luggage N More, Macys, etc… my friends here from Discount 102.com work every day helping retailers develop F.I.T. business. I have seen first- hand the benefits of embracing tourism…Now that it appears Orlando will eventually have an MLS team here with a stadium as well, can you explain some of the benefits for tourism, economically, and culturally which will be gained here with this new venture? BD: Well, Orlando is a very diverse community. Last year we welcomed over 57 million visitors to Central Florida…We are the most visited location in the world. And, we are about to marry the world’s leading sport to the world’s leading tourist destination. South America is very big for us. The top three international visitors as you know are Canada, U.K., and Brazil. And ( Laughs) Brazilians spend
a lot of money here. We think with the Brazilian ownership of Orlando City there will be a natural connection to the team and we could be the closest MLS franchise to the South American market and want to cultivate that. OGY: That is interesting you brought up Mr. da Silva. I’m actually leaving for Brazil this Monday for another tourism trade convention and preparing for the next high season with tour operators and businesses there for my clients here. Brazilians are moving here in record numbers and the owner of Orlando City, Flavio Augusto da Silva, has mentioned he would like Orlando City to become the “second team” for Brazilian fans. How does that make you feel as that would be amazing? BD: (Excitedly) maybe Kaka signs with us! It would be great to get a Brazilian star to play here with the Orlando City Lions. We anticipate if we can get the deal done in the next month or so we will have a franchise by the end of the year and be playing in 2015. OGY: Timing is everything….as you know…I remember playing football for Ucf in the citrus bowl in 1994 when the world cup was held here. Now fast forward 20 years, the world cup will be in the backyard of one of our biggest tourism producers Brasil in 2014. Considering the environment for soccer in this country right now…USA is about to qualify for the world cup with huge television ratings….NBC just finished a deal carrying MLS games as well as many premier league games…and the MLS has recently announced wanting to add at least 4 teams by 2020….Can you describe how the exact timing of this move for Orlando city is really perfectly aligned for success considering the current soccer environment in the USA? BD: That’s exactly right. MLS has currently 19 teams and they just awarded New York with a franchise which will be the 20th but there are no MLS franchises in the southeastern United States. We are ripe, they (MLS) want to expand in the Southeast. The league itself has become widely successful and their model orlando green and yellow
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