Major League Soccer’s NYCFC is drawing much closer to ending the itinerant nature that has dominated its entire existence, but the development of its new stadium is also coming with a bit of shade toward a regional rival.
The club held a hard-hat tour on Wednesday of its forthcoming Etihad Park in Queens, N.Y., providing media a first look at the construction for the forthcoming $780 million venue, to be located next to Citi Field, home of MLB’s Mets. The privately financed 25,000-seat venue, solidified in April 2024 and set to open in 2027, will at last give the club a true home of its own after playing its first 14 seasons at Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and Sports Illustrated Stadium—and not being the primary tenant in any of them.
“We were resolute in our mission, right from when we first came here in 2013. We were going to be in New York City, for the city, the five boroughs,” NYCFC CEO Brad Sims tells Front Office Sports, shortly before the playoff-bound club was dominated Wednesday night by Inter Miami CF at Citi Field in a 4–0 rout that included two goals and an assist by superstar Lionel Messi.
“That definitely made it harder, but here we are now, standing in the skeleton of a stadium that will be a cathedral of soccer. … Everybody knows there’s light at the end of the tunnel now,” Sims says.
Drawing in part from other recently opened MLS venues such as Energizer Park in St. Louis and Geodis Park in Nashville, as well as several venues in Europe, Etihad Park will lean heavily in to established soccer culture. That includes a dedicated supporters’ section and a focus on fan proximity to the field, but there will also be some technology nods to next-generation venues such as the Sphere in Las Vegas, which has hosted several sports-related events, in part through immersive LED screens.
There is also a significant local element to Etihad Park, as the venue will be part of a larger mixed-use development in the Willets Point area.
“One of the key design pieces is that we want to be authentically New York and integrate into this new neighborhood that’s being built. We didn’t want a spaceship that just looks like it just landed right in the middle of the neighborhood,” Sims says.
Was that a dig at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J., the more futuristic-looking home of the New York Red Bulls, a key NYCFC rival?
“You can draw your own conclusions,” he says.
Betting on the Future
NYCFC, meanwhile, does not have a direct role in the ongoing proposal by Mets owner Steve Cohen and his partners, including Hard Rock International, to develop Metropolitan Park, an $8 billion casino and entertainment complex next to Citi Field. The soccer club, however, will directly benefit from the year-round destination that is contemplated in that project. Cohen is seeking a coveted gaming license to make that a reality, and a decision is expected in December.
“We’re in favor of anything that the residents of Queens, and especially this immediate area, are in favor of, and anything that’s going to make this area better,” Sims says. “There’s a great discourse going on with the community and the community leaders, and the Mets have done a great job listening to the feedback and working that into their proposal.”
