NYCFC’s stadium is expected to open in 2027.
New York City FC spent the better part of a decade benefitting from the hospitality of others, playing “home” matches at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, Citi Field in Queens and even Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.
While the 2021 MLS Cup champions have crashed on the proverbial couch of other New York sports organizations since launching in 2015, the City Football Group-backed club is settling down in its own permanent home in 2027 in Queens.
NYCFC will be the primary tenant in the new $780-million, soccer-specific stadium anchoring a redevelopment project in the Willets Point neighborhood of Queens that also includes affordable housing, a new public school, retail stores and a hotel. CEO Brad Sims wants the to-be-named venue to open its doors the way the city’s other sports franchises have for NYCFC.
“We do want to have other events, but first and foremost we feel like this is going to be the cathedral for soccer in New York City,” Sims said. “We would love for a women’s team to be a secondary tenant. We’re working on that and are hopeful that we can make it happen.
“In our ideal world, in 2027 when we’re opening, we’re opening with men’s and women’s full-time tenants.”
Reigning NWSL champions Gotham FC have been playing at Red Bull Arena since announcing a multiyear deal with NYCFC’s rivals in September 2022.
Not only does Sims want to have two clubs call the new venue “home,” the former Cleveland Cavaliers executive would gladly welcome club and country friendlies, while positioning the stadium on the regular rotation for U.S. Soccer, serving as a site for friendlies and World Cup qualifiers for both the USMNT and USWNT.
Outside of soccer, there’s also plans and aspirations for the 25,000-seat stadium to host concerts and potentially other sports including lacrosse, rugby, cricket and college football.
“We’ll be really aggressive about having a very robustly programmed building,” Sims said.
Being within shouting distance of Citi Field, Sims said NYCFC has been having ongoing conversations with the home of the New York Mets since 2009 to ensure they’re “good neighbors.” Both venues are doing their best to coordinate schedules, not only so there’s no overlap, but, more importantly, they don’t negatively impact local residents as it pertains to traffic, noise or other potential inconveniences.
With the first shovels expected to hit the dirt for stadium construction in October, Sims also said the club and City Football Group, which fully or partially owns 13 clubs around the world, are working with current and new brand partners on naming rights and sponsorship opportunities.
NYCFC hired Klutch Sports Group to assist with its go-to-market strategy and lead the sales process for the stadium’s most prominent partnership tier. Sims said the hope is to have 10-15 partners as part of its Excelsior Partner Program, announcing one per quarter through 2025 after, hopefully, kicking things off with a naming rights deal.
“It’s been such a long time coming for this organization,” Sims said. “Ten-plus years ago this club made a promise to the fanbase and the city that they were going to build the first-ever soccer-specific stadium in the city within the five boroughs and never wavered from that promise.”
The venue will be the first soccer-specific stadium in New York City.
But building a soccer-specific stadium within the five boroughs is easier said than done. NYCFC has explored multiple potential locations from Flushing Meadows to the South Bronx, Columbia University and seemingly everywhere in between.
“This should have died five or six times,” said Jon Stemp, chief infrastructure officer at City Football Group.
With the stars aligned between political support, community support and funding, CFG and NYCFC found its ideal home in Queens, the most ethnically diverse urban area on the planet, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
The 23-acre development project with Citi Field to the west and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to the south is led by Queens Development Group comprising Related Companies and Sterling Equities.
HOK, whose stadium designs include St. Louis City SC’s CityPark, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, and the modernization of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, are in charge of stadium design. Legends will manage sales for premium seating at the new venue.
New York City Council approved the mixed-use project with a 47-1 vote on April 11.
“It’s a transformational project,” NYCFC COO Jennifer O’Sullivan said. “You’re not just building a stadium, you’re building a new neighborhood for the first time in decades in New York.”
Willets Point Project Facts:
- $780 million fully privately funded project
- 25,000 seats; first soccer-specific stadium in NYC
- Steepest supporters section per MLS guidelines at 34 degrees
- Natural grass field; field size will replicate other CFG fields around world
- First 100%, all-electric soccer stadium in North America; goal is to have net zero carbon footprint by 2040
- 3.3 million square feet (23 acres) of total development
- Project includes: 2,500 affordable housing units, 650-seat elementary school, 250-key hotel, 115,000 square feet of public open space
- Estimated to generate $6.1 billion in economic activity
- Estimated to create 14,200 construction jobs and 1,550 permanent jobs
