Crews race to get new Orlando City SC stadium finished before Sunday season opener

ORLANDO, Fla. — As Sunday's home opener at Orlando City SC's new stadium in Parramore draws closer, crews continued to work into the night Friday to make sure the facility was ready to open its doors to a sold-out crowd of 25,000.

Construction crews have been working around the clock to put finishing touches on the stadium for Orlando City's home opener against New York City FC.

Fans filed into stands Thursday night to watch the stadium’s first-ever match -- a charity game between the Lions and children.

But there’s still a lot to do ahead of Sunday’s match.

During the charity match, parts of the stadium were closed off, and ladders and buckets of paint were spotted in areas designated for vendors.

Photos: Orlando City Soccer Kids vs. Pros

Workers will also have to make a clear path for fans to walk before the stadium may be officially open to the public.

“It is pretty big. They've been on a time crunch,” soccer fan Wanda Popham said.

“We've already got every game written down on the calendar,” Erik Popham added.

Construction on the stadium broke ground almost two and a half years ago. Soccer fan Rick Antunes was there that day.

“Every visit I've seen, it has been second to none,” he said.

The $155 million stadium will have 25,500 seats -- 49 of which are dedicated to those who were slain in last year’s Pulse nightclub massacre.

Once construction is completed, the city's permitting staff will have to make final inspections.

To help the thousands of fans get to the game, SunRail announced Friday that it would be running Sunday.

The one-day service, which was requested by Orlando City, will cost about $22,000, but private partners will be picking up the cost, SunRail said.

Fans, though, will still have to pay for their tickets to ride the trains, which will start at 1:30 p.m. Sunday and run every hour.

Cox Media Group