Orlando Sues One Sports Team, Wants to Build $100+ Million Stadium for Another

Mayor Dyer likes to claim the city of Orlando is becoming a sports city – but he doesn’t seem to be a true fan of our local teams. I mean, he did build a $500+ million new Amway Center, which is home to the Orlando Magic, Orlando Predators arena football team and the Orlando Solar Bears hockey team. Dyer fought for Citrus Bowl renovations that will total over $300+ million. Dyer also wants to build a new $100+ million stadium for the Orlando City soccer team (which only gets a fraction of the fans our other local sports team turn out per game).

But not all sports teams are welcomed and liked by Mayor “Not My Buddy” Dyer and the city of Orlando. In fact, the city announced it is now suing the Orlando Predators! That’s right, the city is suing one of its own sports teams (wonder what law firm is getting a nice check for this stunt). But this could be where the trouble starts for Dyer and the city of Orlando. Now, the team is ready to fight. From the WFTV report, the Predators plan to counter sue:

[Predators owner] Bouchy told WFTV he’s not surprised the city has filed a lawsuit against the Predators. He said the team’s relationship with the city has been tattered for the last few years. “There’s a minimum level of standard that we should receive as a tenant in the building, and they clearly have not done this,” Bouchy said.

Attending the last Predators home game, I noticed the air conditioning wasn’t turned on in the main halls of Amway. It was disgusting and led to a funky smell and muggy feel inside. Not such a nice presentation of our city’s new half a billion dollar arena! And the Predators team say that’s not all the city is doing wrong. They are impacting revenue for the team and seem to only favor the Magic ownership. Surprise, Rich DeVos gave thousands and thousands of dollars to Dyer.

The Predators owner also said the lawsuit will outline parts about the city’s deal with the Magic that he thinks will cause controversy…this could get interesting. Stay tuned.