Orlando City celebrates victory as season opens in new stadium

ORLANDO, Fla. — And it's a win for the Orlando City Soccer Club!

After debuting its new $155 million stadium Sunday during the season opener, the team beat the New York City FC 1-0.

A sellout crowd packed the stadium for the 5 p.m. match.

Parramore resident William Brown said he’s pleased with how far the venue has come.

"I'm impressed how they did it,” he said. “I was out here when they did the ground breaking. I still have the sand from the ground breaking. I actually watched it come up from the dirt till now.”

Construction on the stadium broke ground in October 2014. Crews worked around the clock through the weekend to put finishing touches on the venue.

Fans filed into the stands Thursday night to watch the stadium's first-ever match -- a charity game between the team and local children.

Watch drone footage of the stadium below:

During the charity match, parts of the stadium were closed off, and ladders and buckets of paint were spotted in areas designated for vendors.

The team officials said they had originally planned to open the stadium in late March, but the Major League Soccer commissioner asked them to hasten the speed of construction so that the season opener could be televised.

The stadium will have 25,500 seats -- 49 of which are dedicated to those who were slain in last year’s Pulse nightclub massacre.

To help the thousands of fans arrive at the game, SunRail said Friday that it would be running trains Sunday.

The one-day service, which was requested by the team, will cost about $22,000, but private partners will pick up the cost, SunRail said.

Watch time-lapse footage of stadium construction below:

Fans, though, will still have to pay for their tickets to ride the trains. Hourly service begins at the DeBary station at 1:30 p.m. The final trip from the Sand Lake Road station departs at 9 p.m.

LYNX will increase the frequency of LYMMO routes to shuttle fans to and from the stadium. The Grapefruit Line is the nearest route.

West Church Street will be closed to traffic at noon.

Cox Media Group