The story behind New York City FC’s new $780m ‘Cube’ stadium with team set to build city’s first ever soccer arena: ‘People will be scattering the ashes of their parents here’

From Yankee Stadium and Citi Field to Barclays Center and Madison Square Garden, New York City is home to some of the most iconic arenas in the world.

While there’s certainly no shortage of sporting landmarks, there’s one thing that has eluded the Big Apple for the past 400 years: a football stadium.

Despite the sport’s meteoric rise in America over the past two decades, the world-famous city has never had a dedicated soccer stadium in its vicinity. One of the state’s two designated clubs plays games in New Jersey, while the other club shares a home ground with both its MLS rival and two baseball teams.

But in 2027, this will finally change.

Two years ago, MLS franchise New York City FC got the green light from government officials to build its own 25,000-seat stadium in Willets Point, Queens, right across the street from Citi Field, home of the MLB team the Mets.

The $780 million privately financed project, which is by far the most expensive stadium in MLS (it is more expensive than Inter Miami’s $350 million stadium), is expected to be completed in time for the 2027 season, with construction set to begin later this year.

It’s been a long and arduous road to this point for the tenacious NYCFC and City Football Group executives who outlined plans to build a soccer arena in New York City more than a decade ago. Despite the enormous setbacks they faced along the way and their fear that it would never happen, they’ve never wavered from that bold promise.

“I think a lot of other organizations would have left long ago,” Chief Operating Officer Jennifer O’Sullivan told DailyMail.com during a press day unveiling NYCFC’s stadium plans on Tuesday.

“There’s a reason the Jets, Giants and Red Bulls are in New Jersey. We’ve had so many people tell us it would never happen. ‘This is foolish, you’re going to waste so much time and money.’

‘But now, 10 years later, we are doing what people thought was impossible.’

Flushing Meadows, Belmont Park, South Bronx (twice), Inwood. Over the past decade, NYCFC has explored every possible location before finally settling on Queens, the site they originally identified when they first launched their proposal in 2011.

In 2022, the team finally reached an agreement with the New York City government to build its desired 25,000-seat stadium in Willets Point, ending a grueling journey to get that approval.

The arena, which will be New York City’s first-ever soccer stadium, is expected to open in 2027 in Willets Point, Queens

The MLS franchise has not had its own home base since its founding in 2013

DailyMail.com provided a glimpse into the plans and designs for the stadium during an NYCFC event on Tuesday

“This should have died five or six times,” admitted Jon Stemp, chief of infrastructure for NYCFC’s owners City Football Group. “We designed five or six stadiums in different locations, but we couldn’t get the political leadership that we needed in the city. Now we’ve ended up with this site and this project with a great group of partners, friends and political leaders who made it possible.”

Even when the dream of bringing a soccer stadium to New York City seemed dead, the franchise never considered following the Red Bulls to New Jersey. That was absolutely out of the question.

“You’re not just building a new stadium, you’re building a new neighborhood in New York for the first time in decades,” O’Sullivan added. “To be a part of that, a project that’s so important and so critical to the city, you couldn’t ask for anything better.”

No naming rights agreement has yet been reached for the proposed new stadium, but it is expected that this agreement will be concluded in 2026.

Still, NYCFC executives are confident their stadium will be unique in the sports world.

In addition to a stunning “Cube” entrance featuring “an immersive, seven-story front door,” the team’s new home will also include a host of luxury and premier hospitality suites, gourmet dining options and an enclosed stadium structure that will provide enhanced sound in the 25,000-capacity arena.

CEO Brad Sims said of the plans for the new stadium at Tuesday’s media event: “This makes you feel like it’s real. It’s almost a pinch-me moment because it’s been so long for this organization, over 10 years, and I couldn’t be more proud of this club.

It features a number of luxury hospitality suites, which will be available at a premium price

For fans who want a VIP experience, gourmet dining options are offered

CEO Brad Sims spoke candidly about the team’s decade-long battle to get approval for the stadium

“We promised the fans and the city that we would build the very first football stadium in the city, within the five boroughs, and we have never deviated from that promise. Of course, with the many difficult situations, difficult times, moving locations… all the things that have happened in the last 10 years, it was very easy to say at some point that it is not worth it and that it cannot be done.

“So from that standpoint you feel proud. We made this promise and we’re going to deliver on this promise.”

Having not had a place to call home since the club’s inception in 2013, Sims expects their fan base to grow significantly when that changes in three years. Fans will no longer have to spend the entire season shuffling between Yankee Stadium, Citi Field and Red Bull Arena. Now, they can create memories in their own stadium.

The project also includes the construction of 2,500 affordable homes, 250 major hotels and commercial properties, a 650-seat primary school and 115,000 square metres of public space in the area, as part of a broader commitment to creating community.

Since NYCFC began introducing season ticket deposits in August, interest from potential buyers has been high, with an estimated 40 percent of them not in their database before the new stadium was approved.

“There are football fans who want an authentic football experience,” Sims added.

NYCFC has been forced to roam between other stadiums in New York for the past 11 years

But from the 2027 season they will play home games in their new arena

Ticket prices will also be segmented, allowing both the big players and New York’s working class to get a piece of the action in the team’s new home base.

Players will also reap the benefits of playing 50 percent of the season under the same roof. In 2023, NYCFC ranked 17th out of 29 for home form as they moved from stadium to stadium.

“We have guys who built their homes right next to Yankee Stadium. But if you go to Citi Field, it’s quite a commute,” Sims admitted.

“We’ve even had situations where we’ve had to give players a hotel for a game at Citi Field. They almost treat it like an away game, just to make sure they don’t get stuck in traffic or are cooped up in their car for three hours.”

They’ll have to work with the Mets to ensure their respective schedules don’t clash (the two teams can never host games within a few hours of each other, given their proximity) and to ensure they can both host other events in their venues, the coast is finally clear for the birth of New York City’s first-ever authentic soccer community.

With Lionel Messi joining MLS, former Premier League manager Mauricio Pochettino as head coach of the U.S. national team, and the small matter of the 2026 World Cup looming, NYCFC’s new stadium comes at a perfect time as soccer flourishes in the United States.

The club is looking to create a dynasty after winning its first MLS Cup in 2021, and O’Sullivan is confident the franchise will grow “astronomically.”

“This is no longer just a retirement league, it’s a league that actually develops its own talent — and it’s taken time for that to happen,” she said. “But when you come back in five, 10, 15 years … the growth is going to be almost astronomical.

City Football Group expects NYCFC stadium to become an iconic landmark in New York

“If you look at where we are in the first 10 years of our existence as a club and what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve done, it’s the growth of the sport in the U.S. that’s driving that.”

Passion for soccer is growing at an unprecedented rate in the United States and NYCFC expects this to increase even further by the time their new stadium opens in 2027.

Stemp, who previously worked for Premier League champions Manchester City, is confident that progress can only be made now that construction of the new stadium gets underway.

“We’ve only just scratched the surface of that passion,” he added.

‘If you jump forward 15, 20, 30, 40 years… people will be here scattering their parents’ ashes because they had a season ticket.

“We have a good chance that they will consider it their property.”