Plan would move Orlando Pride’s NWSL operations from Sanford
Building upon an agreement between the two parties forged last year to expand the landscape of Osceola Heritage Park, Osceola County approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the owners of the Orlando City Soccer Club to provide further investment at the park.
Part of the agreement includes the county and soccer club, should they fully negotiate the Development Agreement by July 31, 2026, jointly investing up to $50 million at OHP to expand the professional soccer facilities, and the Orlando City holding company agreeing to move the Orlando Pride’s women’s franchise’s offices, training and support facilities to Kissimmee from Sylvan Lake Park in Seminole County.
The agreement was part of the consent agenda at Monday’s County Commission meeting.
As part of said agreement, once the plans come together, the two sides would use their funding on additions and improvements on upgrades to the current training facilities at Osceola County Stadium. Those upgrades would include construction of new buildings to support the addition of the Pride, a covered soccer structure to allow training during inclement weather, added practice fields for the teams, new artificial turf fields in front of the stadium that can be utilized by the public, updating the stadium field to artificial turf and other general improvements.
Orlando City Soccer Club President of Business Operations Jarrod Dillon said the club is excited to extend and strengthen its partnership with Osceola County.
“This agreement marks an important first step towards realizing our vision of building a state-of-the-art training facility for all of our teams,” he said.
The Agreement includes an obligation for the county to sell and Orlando City to purchase, at $450,000 per acre, a portion of the property on the northwest side of the intersection of Bill Beck Boulevard and U.S. Highway 192 for hotel and restaurant use if the club can enter into a hotel operating agreement with a national hotel brand prior to Dec. 31, 2028. (In 2023, the county and OHP put out requests for firms to build hotel rooms on property, but no proposals came in.)
The County will continue to The County will continue to be responsible for capital improvement projects, while the soccer club will be responsible for the day-to-day repair, maintenance and operating costs of the facilities.
In a county release, County Commission Chairwoman Viviana Janer called this latest agreement “a bold step” that would elevate Osceola Heritage Park’s place among national and international sports destinations.
“(OHP) is where sports, entertainment, and community thrive together, continuing Osceola County’s proud tradition as the gateway to the nation’s top tourism corridor,” she said. “We look forward to this next step in our partnership with Orlando City Soccer Club.”
Currently, the facility houses the training grounds and administrative offices for the Orlando City Soccer Club Lions and its developmental academy, and the stadium hosts Orlando City’s development ‘B’ team’s matches.
Last December, the Commission gave unanimous approval to negotiate with a development group owned by the Wilf family, which also owns Orlando City and the Pride. That group proposed a major overhaul of OHP called Project Next, which would have expanded the park’s soccer footprint while also adding apartment space, medical offices, parking garages, hotels and other retail.
According to the K&K Sports proposal, the construction and engineering for Project Next would cost over $1 billion, and could create 855 jobs, although “some may be less than fulltime,” the proposal noted, with an average wage for the permanent jobs of $47,579.
That development would occur on land surrounding OHP’s existing Silver Spurs Arena, KLVS and exhibition space.
