‘Something for our city to rally behind': Orlando City to welcome fans back into Exploria Stadium

ORLANDO, Fla. — For the first time since February, a limited number of fans will be allowed inside Exploria Stadium for Orlando City’s soccer match.

The Lions will be playing the Nashville SC at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The crowd for the game will be limited to about 6,000 tickets, which is around 20% capacity.

Read: Orlando City Soccer Club will allow fans to attend home games at reduced capacity

“And I’m really impressed with the game plan that they have for bringing about 20% capacity back,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said.

Officials said fans will be limited to season ticket holders, and they will be spread out in the seats throughout the stadium.

Everyone who attends the game will have to get their temperature checked, wear a mask and seats will be socially distanced.

Officials said safety protocols will include extra cleaning and disinfectant fogging before the game. And once fans are inside, there will be touchless ticket scanning.

READ: Milwaukee Bucks boycott Game 5 against Orlando Magic in protest of Jacob Blake shooting

No bags of any kind will be allowed to reduce screening interactions.

“Having some normalcy and having some fans in the stands is important, I think and something for our city to rally behind,” Dyer said.

Local business owners said they are looking forward to the game and having fans back in the area.

Neal Crosier, who runs Popcorn Junkie, said his business has been down 70% since the pandemic began. On Wednesday he made “purple pride” popcorn, which a popular choice for fans of Orlando City Soccer.

“It’s very huge,” Crosier said. “Soccer days we usually end up staying late because we catch a lot of the crowd after the game.”

Orange County health officials will be watching the event closely. They want to see how it works before deciding whether fans will be allowed inside the Bounce House when the University of Central Florida begins its games next month.

Cox Media Group