Lion Links: 12/11/19

Good morning, Mane Landers! I hope the week’s treating you well as we all start to panic a bit about when or how we’re supposed to get all of our shopping done. There’s still time, but for now let’s jump to the links.

Exploria Stadium’s New Look

Home to our beloved Orlando City and the Orlando Pride, Exploria Stadium is temporarily changing out its configuration from futbol to football, and nets for goal posts, as preparations are underway for the Cure Bowl between Liberty University and Georgia Southern. Orlando fans had plenty to say on social media in regard to the yard lines that have been painted across the pitch, so let us know what you think about football coming to the stadium in the comments below.

The Orlando City Foundation Supports Libby’s Legacy

Orlando Lions Alumni, Paul Holmes and Bass Pro Shops hosted a fishing tournament with Libby’s Legacy for breast cancer survivors. The Orlando Pride, the Orlando City Foundation, and Orlando Health worked together to provide swag bags full of goodies to participants.

Camping World Stadium’s Makeover

The Orlando city commissioners voted Monday to hire Barton Malow, a Michigan-based construction firm, to begin renovations of Camping World Stadium. The same firm completed the $400 million renovation of the Daytona International Speedway. The $60 million face lift seeks to modernize the restrooms and concessions areas in the upper level, upgrade parking lots, and improve seating.

“When we originally did the renovation to what’s now called Camping World Stadium, the original proposal was $230, $240 million and we ended up doing about $207 million dollars so there were some things we weren’t able to accomplish,” Mayor Buddy Dyer said. “So we’re coming back, the county has allocated $60 million additional through the Tourist Development Tax, so we’ll do some things like closing in the northern end zone where the party deck was which hasn’t worked out in a way that we thought it would.

USL’s Largest Winter Summit Opens in Orlando

More than 750 team executives and staff members from the three tiers of the United Soccer League gathered at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld here in Orlando to continue preparations for the 2020 season.

“The Winter Summit is one of our most important events of the year,” USL President Jake Edwards said. “It not only offers the chance for all of us to reflect, assess and celebrate another tremendous year across all of our leagues, but also for team executives and staff [to] gain valuable insight from their peers. We look forward to seeing everyone together.”

Free Kicks

• An unofficial tweet suggests that 26-year-old goalkeeper Jordi is linked with Orlando City. The Brazilian played in over 2,500 minutes this past year while on loan from Vasco De Gama and could bring some needed depth to the position.

• Both Alex Morgan and Marta made the top 10 list of female athletes of 2019 according to Twitter Analytics. Players were ranked by the number of unique posts discussing them.
• Sporting Kansas City broke its club record in transfer fees to sign Liga MX star striker Alan Pulido.
• Napoli parted ways with Carlo Ancelotti after a poor run of form in Serie A, despite the club’s advancement in the Champions League.
• Todd Boehly, a Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner, made an unsuccessful bid to purchase the English Premier League’s Chelsea.
• I don’t use the term “cringe-worthy” often, but as Secretary Jefferson raps in Hamilton, “If the shoe fits, wear it!”

• Here are the top professional prospects to watch in this weekend’s 2019 College Cup.
• Forward Madison Haley, defender Naomi Girma, and midfielder Danielle Calaprico were ruled out of the United States Women’s National Team ID Camp due to injuries.

That’ll do it for me today, Mane Landers. Be sure to check out the PawedCast later today and the site for more Orlando soccer coverage throughout the off-season.