Orlando City looking forward to opener despite cloud of MLS labor negotiations
There's also a chance it might not come off at all.
With the league and its players union meeting with a federal mediator in Washington since Sunday, the possibility of a strike was an overriding topic Wednesday at the team's media day despite efforts to downplay the threat of a postponed opener against fellow league newcomers New York City FC.
"You have to understand that this league is 20 years old and still growing," coach Adrian Heath said. "We can't grow too quickly, too far ahead of ourselves. I'm just hoping that common sense prevails, and I'm sure it will. We're preparing as though we're playing at 5 o'clock on Sunday."
"This is not our problem," defender Aurelien Collin said. "As players, we're not even thinking about it. Those people are qualified for that job, and they're taking care of it. I'm sure they're representing us very well. All we're focusing on is playing and preparing for Sunday."
But Collin, a native of France who spent the past four seasons with Sporting Kansas City, made no bones about it that the meager salary cap of $3.1 million per team is more of an obstacle to the league's continued growth than the absence of some sort of free agency.
"To be one of the best in the world, they have to raise the salary cap," he said. "That has to happen. There's no other option."
Provided the start to the Lions' 34-game schedule is not delayed because of the absence of a collective bargaining agreement, it should be a momentous afternoon at the newly renovated stadium that will serve as the team's home until construction on a soccer-only facility is completed. Tickets for all 60,000 seats were sold as of Monday, and the team announced Wednesday that another 2,000 standing-room-only tickets on the north terrace would go on sale on a first-come, first-served basis.
"If we had an 80,000-seat stadium behind me, my belief is that we'd sell 80,000 seats. I don't doubt that," Orlando City president and founder Phil Rawlins said.
Goaltender Donovan Ricketts, the oldest member of the team at 37, went through a similar experience in 2012 with the Montreal Impact when they opened before 66,000 fans at Olympic Stadium. But he admitted the anticipation will be on a greater scale not only in America but the United Kingdom, where the match will be televised live by Sky Sports.
"All eyes are on this game," said Ricketts, who was the first pick by Orlando in last year's expansion draft.
"This is truly a global game that we'll see on Sunday," Rawlins added.
Orlando City and New York City FC played to a 1-1 draw Feb. 21 in an exhibition match during the Carolina Challenge Cup. The Lions concluded their preseason with a 3-0 loss to Houston Dynamo, the team they will face in their second regular-season match March 13.
With temperatures in the 80s Wednesday during practice at the stadium, the players received their first exposure to what conditions might be like come the summer months.
"We got a little taste of what it was going to be like today," Ricketts said. "It was hot, very hot. But once you come to this side of the world, this is what you expect. So we'll have to get used to it."
Given the influx of tourists from Brazil to Orlando and the recent addition of Walt Disney World as a founding sponsor, the team hopes fan interest will last well past Sunday regardless of the outcome of the opening match.
"It will be an amazing day for everybody," said Kaka, the Brazilian who is the team's captain and its designated player.
"This is not about the weekend or a week or a month," Rawlins said. "It's about the future of the game in this country."
You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.
