NEW YORK — NYCFC’s $780 million, 25,000-seat venue expected to open across from Citi Field in 2027 will be named Etihad Park under a 20-year agreement announced Thursday with Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates.
The controlling owner of NYCFC is City Football Group, the parent company of English side Manchester City. The Premier League team’s venue was renamed Etihad Stadium in July 2011.
“It’s a 100% New York City FC deal”
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NYCFC president Brad Sims said revenue from the deal will go to the MLS team and not to its parent company or the English club, which is under investigation by the Premier League for alleged violations of financial fair play rules.
Etihad has been NYC’s shirt sponsor since 2014 and Manchester City’s since 2009-2010, a season after the Abu Dhabi United Group took over.
“It’s a 100% New York City FC deal,” Sims said. “Etihad Airways has essentially been our premiere, our primary and founding partner since day 1 at the club here. … We ideally wanted to stay with someone who is a current partner of New York City FC and or someone in the City Football Group family, but Etihad was easily the No. 1 focus we’ve always had.”
Etihad has also collaborated with NYCFC on community initiatives.
“They’ve been interested in this stadium in New York for quite some time and are, I think, really interested in the trajectory of the sport in this country, specifically in the New York market,” Sims said. “For them, the New York market is a very strategic commercial market.”
NYCFC played at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field
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Since NYCFC took the field in 2015, it has played primarily home games at Yankee Stadium, home of the Major League Baseball team that is a minority investor in NYCFC. But due to schedule conflicts, NYC has played some home games at Citi Field, home of the rival New York Red Bulls in Harrison, New Jersey, and Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.
Eastern Conference semifinals Saturday against the rival New York Red Bulls will be at Citiveld because Notre Dame is playing Army in a college football game at Yankee Stadium.
NYCFC announced the site in 2022. The New York City Council approved the football stadium in April as part of a redevelopment of Willets Point that includes 2,500 homes, a new public school, hotel and retail.
“We scored an important goal for New York City with this victory,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the time.
“This is more than just building a football stadium. We are building a brand new neighborhood here. And then you find the right partners with whom we can really create something that the city has not seen in four decades,” the Council said. Member Francisco Moya also said that at the time.
Bulldozers and cranes are involved in the preparation, lease negotiations with New York City are progressing and a groundbreaking is likely before the end of the year, according to Sims.
Mets owner Steve Cohen is among the bidders for a license build a casino in an area adjacent to Citi Field.
“The more activity that can come into the development in Willets Point and make it a live, work and play neighborhood, the better,” Sims said.
Sims said that when NYCFC is home first in the day, there should be a six-hour buffer before a Mets game can start. If the Mets are home first, there needs to be a seven-hour buffer before football can start.
Similar parameters exist at the US Tennis Association for the US Open.
Sims said the new stadium will benefit NYCFC as MLS switches to an August to May schedule, in line with most European soccer leagues, from the current February to December calendar.
“There are a lot of advantages to that. The disadvantages are mainly in cities with cold weather and outdoor stadiums,” Sims said. “I think with the new stadium we would probably be relatively isolated, at least in the beginning — at least in the first five, 10 years, just having some kind of excitement around the stadium.”
World Cup 2026
MLS season ticket holders will be given priority over the hospitality industry tickets for the 2026 World Cup.
“All MLS season members, season ticket holders, corporate partners and the like will have some type of pre-sale access, these opportunities will be pre-market to purchase suites, club seats and hospitality products at all matches in all markets throughout the 2026 World Cup,” Sims said. “That’s something that I think is a great benefit to our season ticket members and to our sponsors and corporate partners. … We’re actively in the market to bring city memberships to market for 2025 and that will be another benefit of that .”
