Last night I had the opportunity to attend my first Orlando City Soccer match which also was the first time I've been in the "new" Citrus Bowl. I'm not a soccer expert by any means, but did enjoy the World Cup last year which I believe probably has helped cultivate the local OCS fanbase.
I've casually followed Orlando City this season. Several games have directly conflicted with UCF Baseball, but I have watched a few others on TV. I'll read Paul Tenorio's stories.
Last night OCS hosted Toronto FC, a team that features U.S. National Team stars Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore.
Game time was 7, and I had heard parking near the Citrus Bowl was a huge hassle (mostly postgame traffic flow) and to avoid it if you weren't going to be tailgating. So I decided to park downtown in the GEICO Garage for $10 and take the shuttle over. They have a constant loop of shuttles ferrying folks back and forth from downtown.
Shuttle drop off is a side street next to Lorna Doone Park, the famous "Lot A" of the UCF Citrus Bowl days where you always had to play close attention to who was lurking around. A short walk to the intersection of Church/Rio Grande where I found a t-shirt tent selling bootleg, unlicensed purple "OCSC" shirts for $10.
There was plenty to see and do outside the stadium. Directly outside the Citrus Bowl, there was a D.J. playing music.
A little down the road was their sponsor area. I didn't stand in line to partake in the various booths, but MetroPCS, Subway and Academy Sports have various skill competitions where you might be lucky to win a cheap koozie or keychain.
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Lynx had their OCS bus parked on the street for photo ops. They also had the Orlando City inflatable "Coke Couch" (UCF has something similar) and an OCS Garbage Truck. Publix also had a giant inflatable soccer ball.
Across the street was something called "Mane Street," sponsored by Publix. Inside were a large variety of food trucks and a band was playing on stage.
After wandering around for a bit, I ventured back over towards the stadium and saw the supporter groups, Ruckus and Iron Lion Firm, make their entrance into the stadium, doing their chants, banging on drums, etc. It was amusing to many bystanders as many a selfie was taken.
Then near the corner of the entrance to the handicapped lot, I saw a van with a trailer attached. I've actually seen this van around town a few times, in the Winter Park area. Upon closer inspection the trailer was equipped with flat-screen TVs where kids were playing the MLS/FIFA video game.
I did not actually venture into a parking lot, but I saw a Baylor Bears tent from a distance.
They had an outdoor merchandise tent that was quite crowded. In fact, all the merchandise booths inside the stadium was jam packed. They were printing money yesterday. I can only imagine every game has been like this. I have no idea how many of the 30,000 attendees I passed by, very, very, very few were not wearing OCS branded attire.
Whatever Orlando Health spent on the sponsorship was well worth it when everybody walks around with your logo plastered on it. Though I'm not sure what it does for them as it's usually not a conscious choice regarding which hospital you go to.
I've casually followed Orlando City this season. Several games have directly conflicted with UCF Baseball, but I have watched a few others on TV. I'll read Paul Tenorio's stories.
Last night OCS hosted Toronto FC, a team that features U.S. National Team stars Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore.
Game time was 7, and I had heard parking near the Citrus Bowl was a huge hassle (mostly postgame traffic flow) and to avoid it if you weren't going to be tailgating. So I decided to park downtown in the GEICO Garage for $10 and take the shuttle over. They have a constant loop of shuttles ferrying folks back and forth from downtown.
Shuttle drop off is a side street next to Lorna Doone Park, the famous "Lot A" of the UCF Citrus Bowl days where you always had to play close attention to who was lurking around. A short walk to the intersection of Church/Rio Grande where I found a t-shirt tent selling bootleg, unlicensed purple "OCSC" shirts for $10.
There was plenty to see and do outside the stadium. Directly outside the Citrus Bowl, there was a D.J. playing music.
A little down the road was their sponsor area. I didn't stand in line to partake in the various booths, but MetroPCS, Subway and Academy Sports have various skill competitions where you might be lucky to win a cheap koozie or keychain.
Lynx had their OCS bus parked on the street for photo ops. They also had the Orlando City inflatable "Coke Couch" (UCF has something similar) and an OCS Garbage Truck. Publix also had a giant inflatable soccer ball.
Across the street was something called "Mane Street," sponsored by Publix. Inside were a large variety of food trucks and a band was playing on stage.
After wandering around for a bit, I ventured back over towards the stadium and saw the supporter groups, Ruckus and Iron Lion Firm, make their entrance into the stadium, doing their chants, banging on drums, etc. It was amusing to many bystanders as many a selfie was taken.
Then near the corner of the entrance to the handicapped lot, I saw a van with a trailer attached. I've actually seen this van around town a few times, in the Winter Park area. Upon closer inspection the trailer was equipped with flat-screen TVs where kids were playing the MLS/FIFA video game.
I did not actually venture into a parking lot, but I saw a Baylor Bears tent from a distance.
They had an outdoor merchandise tent that was quite crowded. In fact, all the merchandise booths inside the stadium was jam packed. They were printing money yesterday. I can only imagine every game has been like this. I have no idea how many of the 30,000 attendees I passed by, very, very, very few were not wearing OCS branded attire.
Whatever Orlando Health spent on the sponsorship was well worth it when everybody walks around with your logo plastered on it. Though I'm not sure what it does for them as it's usually not a conscious choice regarding which hospital you go to.
