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New York City FC officially announces a $780 MILLION stadium deal whereby the club will play in Willets Point, Queens in a 25,000-seat stadium near the Mets and US Open tennis…with opening day scheduled for 2027 – nearly 14 YEARS after the team was founded
After years of being bums, renters and restless, New York City FC will finally play in their very own stadium.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced that the city and City Football Group will build a soccer-specific stadium in the Willets Point neighborhood of Queens.
Previous reports said the stadium would seat 25,000 fans and cost more than $780 million – with an opening day slated for 2027, nearly 14 years after the club’s founding.
The ground will be 100% privately funded by the City Football Group – the first purpose-built football-specific stadium in New York City.
Renderings here show what developers envision for New York City FC’s brand new stadium
NYCFC’s new stadium is being built next to Citi Field and across from the home of the US Open
This new development will be located right next to Citi Field – home of the New York Mets – and across Roosevelt Avenue from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center – home of the US Open tennis tournament.
The stadium will be accessible by public transportation via Line 7 of the New York subway system and via the Port Washington branch of the Long Island Railroad.
The stadium was announced along with a larger Willets Point redevelopment project – with Adams announcing a cleanup of the area, a commitment to build affordable housing, a hotel, schools, retail space and more.
Adams stressed that the stadium, housing and hotel will all be built by union workers.
The club was founded in 2013 and played their first home game in 2015 at Yankee Stadium
Since its inception in 2013, NYCFC has played most of their home games at Yankee Stadium. But they do that as tenants – not as primary tenants.
Past scheduling conflicts saw them play home games at several locations in the New York area – including Citi Field, Belson Stadium on the St. Johns University campus, Coffey Field on the Fordham University campus, and Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
In addition, they had to play home games at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, as well as Pratt & Whitney Field, a college football stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut.
The new location (right star) replaces Yankee Stadium (center star) and is three rivers across from rivals New York Red Bulls and their New Jersey home (left star)
The development would end one of the weirdest stadium arrangements in the league – after NYCFC played MLS and US Open Cup home games for years at the Red Bull Arena, home of cross-town rivals New York Red Bulls.
The Red Bulls opened their 25,000 seat stadium in Harrison in 2010 after years of stalemate, delays and development.
A trip between the new NYCFC stadium and RBA would take about an hour and a half on weekdays, according to CityMapper’s estimate.