The shovels have yet to go into the ground, but New York City FC can hardly contain its excitement over the construction of its new home that will open in 2027.
The MLS franchise recently invited Sportico to a preview of its Stadium Experience Center, located in the team’s Midtown Manhattan headquarters. The one-hour observation included a scale model of the new venue as well as stages of its premium suites. As previously reported, Legends will manage sales for premium seating while Klutch will coordinate stadium partnerships.
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On April 11, the New York City Council approved the mixed-use project with a 47-1 vote. Construction of the stadium itself, which will be next door to the New York Mets’ Citi Field, will be privately funded to the tune of $780 million.
The unnamed 25,000-seat stadium is the centerpiece of a new mixed-use residential and commercial district in Willets Point, an industrial neighborhood in Queens that has been the target for redevelopment by multiple New York City mayors since the 1960s. Surrounding the U.S.’ first all-electric soccer stadium will be retail spaces, a 250-key hotel and around 2,500 units of affordable housing.
New York City FC, winner of the 2021 MLS Cup and currently fifth in the Eastern Conference standings, ranks fifth in Sportico’s MLS franchise valuations at $840 million. The club took in $68 million in revenue in 2023 while splitting games between its primary home at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field.
Though mixed-used districts are all the rage in the sports industry these days, this proposed complex also includes a brand-new 650-seat public elementary school. New York City has the nation’s largest public school system with 1.1 million students, and recently added 24 new school buildings and additions to start the 2024-25 academic year.
“What we heard loud and clear, first and foremost, was housing,” Brad Sims, the team’s CEO, said in an interview. “This is the biggest new affordable housing project in New York City in 40 years, and so that’s something we’re really proud to be a part of. But with all these new residents in a new neighborhood, you need a school.
Sims credited local officials—in particular, local Councilman Francisco Moya and New York City Mayor Eric Adams—for giving their support to the project after over a decade of false starts. “Just having these conversations with community leaders, with politicians from the hyper-local level that came into play that, like, this is something that’s important and that makes sense. The only way that the overall project was ever going to be approved and be successful was if we really listened to what the community wanted.”
The development will have Citi Field to the west and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to the south. Public transportation will serve the location; the city’s No. 7 subway line and the suburban Long Island Rail Road have brought sports fans to the area for decades. Yet the logistics of matchday, which are already complex for one team, could be unwieldy in late August or early September if it’s in the middle of a Mets’ pennant chase or during the annual U.S. Open. The soccer club spent a significant amount of time talking with the Mets and USTA about traffic, parking and other logistical concerns.
“We were coming to a place where we want to be good neighbors, and traffic flow is a huge concern for everybody,” NYCFC chief operating officer Jennifer O’Sullivan said. “We’re working really well with the Mets on a scheduling protocol and will never have games at the same time. Could have games on the same day, but there’s a significant buffer period in between. It’ll be the same thing [with] the U.S. Open and all the same parking that’s utilized.”
When projects of this scale seek environmental, zoning and financing approval, many of them get bogged down in delays due to lawsuits, from activists and politicians to other businesses hoping to stake a claim to the open land. That wasn’t the case with Willets Point. “We had zero,” Sims said. “The only way that you have a project that has near unanimous support is if everyone involved feels extremely comfortable that we’ve got a great project that everyone’s fully aligned on.”
NYCFC has had a nomadic experience since beginning play in 2013 despite calling Yankee Stadium home. The team has spent parts of several seasons at Citi Field while also playing designated home games in New Jersey, Connecticut and even 3,000 miles away in Los Angeles. However, “The Pigeons” have long held a vision of becoming homeowners in Queens after being tenants in The Bronx.
Other developers will construct the non-stadium buildings and spaces, and Sims said the full breadth of the project, and not just the stadium, will become reality. “We’re an organization that keeps our promises,” he said.
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