At long last, New York City FC, or NYCFC, of Major League Soccer will have a permanent stadium designed with soccer in mind. On Thursday, city authorities gave the go-ahead to construct a 25,000-seat stadium next to Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets.
With a vote of 47 to 1, the proposal was authorized by the council. Since the opening of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in 2012, this would be the first major league stadium to be constructed in the city.
The stadium for NYCFC will come from private funds. Given the location and the aim for a modern look and feel, the 25,000-seat venue will cost $780 million. Co-owned by the Yankees and the owner of Manchester City, Yankee Stadium serves as their primary home field.
New York City FC finally gets its own stadium
“The dream and promise of our club, I think, since day one—going back 10 years—was to build the first-ever soccer-specific stadium in New York City within the five boroughs. And we’ve been resolute about that promise, all the way through and in so it’s just very fulfilling to see a day like yesterday come together,” the club’s CEO, Brad Sims said.
“Being a tenant does not allow you to control your own destiny, whether that’s fan experience or revenue streams. With this new stadium, we will be able to monetize the stadium, through naming rights and hospitality, that we were not able to do while playing our games between Yankee Stadium and Citi Field.”
The new structure, according to Sims, should allow the team to sell more tickets.
“Premium seats at a baseball stadium are not the premium seats to watch soccer,” he said. “Right now, 80% of our matchday revenue is coming from general seating. In the new stadium, I think 80% or more of our revenue will be coming from premium seating or hospitality areas. It’s just a massive switch there, and then also the sponsorship opportunities are tremendous.”
Within the rehabilitation project, there will be a…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/nycfcs-780m-stadium-proposal-gets-city-council-green-light
Author : Martina Alcheva
Publish date : 2024-04-12 18:45:44
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