Orlando had been previously considered for a Major League Soccer franchise following its 1994 World Cup success, but no willing investors were identified at the time.
[6] The Orlando Pride are the 2024 NWSL Shield Winners and the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League Champions.
One of the seven charter members of the Pro Volleyball Federation, the Valkyries are set to begin play for the league's inaugural 2024 season.
Its women's soccer program has produced several high-profile players, including FIFA 100 honoree Michelle Akers.
The campus features FBC Mortgage Stadium for football and Addition Financial Arena for basketball, both built in 2007.
In June 2016, Camping World Stadium hosted three group stage matches for the Copa América Centenario.
The United States defeated Panama 4–0 in a push to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which ultimately failed.
Orlando City won the 2011 USL Pro Championship, and the highest attendance in the league while playing at the Citrus Bowl during its first three seasons.
The Disney stadium hosted first-round (Pool D) games in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and two three-game series between for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2007 and 2008.
There had been a grassroots campaign to attract Major League Baseball permanently to Orlando,[citation needed] with initial speculation pointed to the group building an MLB-class stadium with private financing.
They announced they were discussing a possible purchase of the Tampa Yankees in 2010,[12] but those plans fell apart when a potential stadium construction deal was struck down.
In the 1990s, ice hockey became popular in Orlando,[citation needed] perhaps due to large influx of northerners to the city.
In the 1993–94 NHL season, the Tampa Bay Lightning played four "home" games at the Orlando Arena, with a 1–2–1 record.
In 2011, an investment group announced that they were approved to lease Amway Center for a new franchise in the mid-level ECHL, which was formally awarded on November 1, 2011.
[13] Two weeks later, it was announced that they had received the blessing of previous owner Rich DeVos to revive the Orlando Solar Bears name.
[16] In 2000, the Orlando Rays moved from Tinker Field to Cracker Jack Stadium at the Wide World of Sports Complex.
The semi-professional Orlando Aces played one season in the new revived American Basketball Association in 2006–07 before moving to Las Vegas.
In 1974, the World Football League was formed, and a franchise originally planned for Boston, then moved to the Washington, D.C. area, wound up in Orlando as the Florida Blazers.
Despite playing before sparse crowds at the Citrus Bowl and not getting paid for weeks at a time, the Blazers won their division with a 14–6 record and qualified for the first and only WFL championship game, losing to the Birmingham Americans, 22–21.
In 1985, the United States Football League's Washington Federals shifted to the Citrus Bowl and were renamed the Orlando Renegades.
Despite a 5–13 record, the Renegades were one of the eight teams that stayed in the USFL for its projected fall season in 1986, but the league folded before any games were played that year.
The Citrus Bowl was once slated to host some of the games for the Florida team in the never launched All American Football League in 2008.
They compiled a perfect 6–0 record in the inaugural UFL season, before losing to the Las Vegas Locomotives in the championship game.
Before the 2010 season, Sternberg sold his stake in the team and the Tuskers announced they would play all home games in Orlando.
[20] On October 12, 2016, the Orlando Predators announced they had suspended operations due to the reduced number of teams in the AFL and other pending disagreements with the league.
After poor performance their first year, plans to shift to the new National Indoor Soccer League were eventually shelved.
On January 4, 2007, the Silver Spurs Arena evicted the Seals due to unpaid rent, causing the franchise to fold.
Orlando hosted the Major League Baseball Draft for several years until 2009, when they moved to the studios of MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey.
In 2020, WWE began a residency in the Amway Center that included their weekly television tapings and multiple major shows, starting with SummerSlam.