On June 30, 2015, Orlando City announced that it would own and operate its own reserve team in the USL, following eight MLS clubs that had launched teams over the past two years. While Orlando City B is unanimously considered a positive for the club, there is a competitive drawback for the team itself.
Saturday night OCB played its first league game, hosting the Wilmington Hammerheads at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne. The Lions fell 2-1 to the independent USL club and found a competitive negative consequence in the process.
While Orlando City and OCB train together at their Sylvan Lake Park training center in Sanford, there is still a difference between the first team squad and the reserve squad, especially those under MLS contracts and those under USL contracts.