CENTRAL FLORIDA’S FAVORITE LOCAL LGBTQ SPORTS LEAGUE/ORGANIZATION
If you want to know how many members of the LGBTQ community support Orlando Pride soccer all you need do is check out the backs of our cars. Affixed to our bumpers— next to our yellow and blue HRC equal sign— you will see the Orlando Pride magnet.
The purple and light blue logo featuring the famous Lake Eola fountain can be found throughout the city. Sure, it is usually side-by-side with Orlando City Soccer’s purple and yellow lion shield, but when the ballots were counted it was the women’s team that had our readers busting with pride–maybe next year, boys.
Orlando Pride, Florida’s first National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team, was the 10th team added to the league and got their start in the 2016 season. Their positive impact on the community was immediate.
Thanks to fans who came out in droves to see them, Orlando Pride holds the record for the largest attendance in NWSL history as 23,403 Central Floridians packed the Orlando Citrus Bowl to witness their home team win their inaugural game.
The love of soccer in Orlando, not only by the LGBTQ community but by the city at large, has led the City Beautiful to be addressed by another nickname, the “Soccer Capital of the South.” Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer thinks this may have something to do with the Orlando Pride’s name.
“I love the name plays off the pride of lions,” Mayor Dyer said to Watermark in 2016. “Also, a sense of pride in your city, and then, of course, gay pride.”
