ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando City Soccer Club's new soccer stadium will be larger than originally proposed and will be privately funded, officials announced at a press conference Friday.
Flávio Augusto da Silva, the team's majority owner, said the stadium will now seat 26,000 to 28,000 people.
The planned venue was originally set to have a capacity of 19,000 seats.
Florida lawmakers are currently at odds over a budget, which created concern over funding for the facility.
Raw: Orlando City announces private financing
Photos: Thousands march downtown for stadium groundbreaking
Photos: Orlando City stadium renderings
The stadium is under construction, but there was concern over $30 million piece of state funding earmarked for a major part of the $115 million facility.
That money was supposed to come from Tallahassee, but when lawmakers ended their session early in a squabble over Medicaid, Orlando City was left without the needed financing.
Officials said Friday the Orlando City Soccer Club will purchase the land the stadium is being built on from the city of Orlando.
According to team officials, once they realized how popular Major League Soccer has become in Orlando they were able to come up with the private funding to ensure the stadium is built.
Da Silva said that the soccer-specific stadium should be ready to host its first soccer matches in the summer of 2016.
WFTV
