NYCFC Stadium next to Citi Field to Be Called Etihad Park After

NEW YORK (AP) – New York City City FC ´ s $ 780 million, 25,000-seat venue that it intends to open beside the Mets ´ 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 Big league Soccer group ´ s controlling owner is City Football Group, the moms and dad company of England ´ s Manchester City. The Premier League team ´ s venue was relabelled Etihad Stadium in July 2011.

NYCFC president Brad Sims stated revenue from the offer will go to the MLS team and not the moms and dad business or English club, which is under examination by the for declared infractions of monetary fair play rules.

Etihad has been NYC’s shirt sponsor considering that 2014 and Manchester City’s considering that 2009-10, a season after the Abu Dhabi United Group took control.

“It ´ s a 100% New York City FC deal,” Sims said. “Etihad Airways has been essentially our best, our principal and starting partner since Day 1 at the club here. … We wished to preferably stick with someone who is a current partner of New York City FC and or somebody in the City Football Group family however Etihad was quickly kind of the No. 1 focus that we’ve had the whole time.”

Etihad likewise has collaborated with NYCFC on neighborhood efforts.

“They ´ ve been interested for rather some time about this stadium in New york city and truly buying into, I believe, the path of travel of the sport in this nation, in the New york city market particularly,” Sims said. “For them the New york city market, the New york city City market is a really strategic business market.”

Since taking the field in 2015, NYCFC has actually played home video games primarily at Yankee Stadium, home of the Big league Baseball team that is a minority investor in NYCFC. But due to the fact that of schedule conflicts, NYC has actually played some home matches at Citi Field, the home of the rival New York Red Bulls in Harrison, New Jersey, and Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

Saturday’s Eastern Conference semifinal against the competing New york city Red Bulls will be at Citi Field because Notre Dame is playing Army in a college football video game at Yankee Stadium.

NYCFC announced the website in 2022. The New York City Council authorized the soccer arena in April as part of a Willets Point redevelopment that consists of 2,500 housing units, a brand-new public school, hotel and retail shops. Bulldozers and cranes are involved in pre-construction, lease negotiations with New york city 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 to construct a gambling establishment in an area adjacent to Citi Field.

“The more activity that can occur in advancement in Willets Point and make it a live-work-and-play community the better,” Sims said.

Sims said when NYCFC is home first in a day, there needs to be a six-hour buffer before a Mets video game can start. When the Mets are home initially, there has to be a seven-hour buffer before soccer can start.

Similar parameters exist with the U.S. Tennis Association for the U.S. Open.

Sims said the brand-new arena will benefit NYCFC if MLS switches to an August-to-May schedule, aligning with many European soccer leagues, from its current February-to-December calendar.

“There ´ s a lot of pros to doing that. The cons mainly live in cold-weather cities that have outdoor arenas,” Sims stated. “I think for us with the new arena we would likely be fairly insulated, a minimum of in the early – a minimum of in the very first 5-, 10-plus years just with sort of enjoyment around the arena.”

MLS season ticket holders will have top priority access to hospitality tickets for the 2026 World Cup.

“All MLS season members, season ticket holders, corporate partners and such will have will have a type of presale gain access to, these opportunities ahead of the marketplace to buy suites, club seats, hospitality-type items at all video games in all markets throughout the 2026 World Cup,” Sims said. “That ´ s something that I think is a great advantage to our season ticket members and to our sponsors and corporate partners. … We’re in the marketplace actively marketing 2025 City memberships which’s going to be another advantage of that.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer