New York City FC (Major League Soccer) @ Citi Field (Queens, NY)

Looking back at my "baby days" on this blog, I realized something: I never talked about the New York City FC stadium saga! Anyway, a lot of it can be chalked up to "it’s near impossible to get construction permits in New York City", but here’s a brief summary.

If you couldn’t tell by how awkward the Yankee Stadium soccer experience is, it was never intended to be the club’s permanent home. Throughout the early years of the club’s existence, the team was looking at various sites in New York City to build a stadium; if I remember correctly, many of them were in northern Manhattan (including a potential partnership with Columbia University), but most of them never got far (again, permits).

In 2022, the club and city came to an agreement on a site: Willets Point in Queens, NY. An industrial area that was often viewed as an "eyesore" thanks to its abundance of auto part dealers, redevelopment had been in the cards for quite a while; in fact, plans to build a soccer stadium in the area PREDATE the establishment of NYCFC (MLS itself had looked into it as early as 2011). The stadium is still under construction and is expected to be opened next fall (as part of MLS shifting to a fall to spring schedule)¹, but for now, the team and its fans are getting a "taste" of their future surroundings by playing at a different baseball stadium: Citi Field.

During the 2022 MLS season (i.e. the same year they came to an agreement on the stadium site), the team started splitting home games between here and Yankee Stadium (their "traditional home"), though I'm not fully certain as to why they did that (as the first game at Citi Field was before the agreement to build the new stadium was announced). I don't think I need to go over the history and layout of Citi Field as I've been here three times already this year, but like New York City's other baseball fields that just so happen to host soccer, the pitch does not cross the pitcher's mound here. Unlike Yankee Stadium, however, the field runs from third base to right field (which, coincidentally, is how the soccer field is laid out in Brooklyn as well). Also, the supporters' section is in the outfield (similar to how they're in the Yankee Stadium outfield bleachers) - but due to how the field and seats are set up, they're...basically awkwardly in the right field corner.

You may be wondering what has possessed me to visit New York City FC right now given the scandal their parent club is currently embroiled in (long story short: they were recently found guilty of MASSIVE financial manipulation as well as attempts to cover it up). To that, I say that I've actually been thinking about doing this for most of this year (i.e. LONG before the club was found guilty): having seen the Yankee Stadium soccer experience, I figured I'd try for the Citi Field one before they move across the street. I should also mention that THIS trip was originally going to be Citi Field's debut on this blog, as I had plans to see New York City FC at Citi back in May before I ended up going to that first Mets game.

It is also due to that Mets game that this trip got delayed a LOT - it was originally going to be on May 3 as that was the team's only "confirmed" afternoon game at Citi Field when the schedule initially came out, but I didn't feel that going to Queens from New Jersey twice in four days was a good idea (had I gone, I would've seen NYC lose 2-0). I then thought about trying to see the New England Revolution again, but a 7:30 start time on a Wednesday night felt too late for me (and once again, NYC lost - this time on a last-minute goal). Finally, I thought about trying to go a few weeks ago, but given the opponent (Los Angeles Football Club and their pair of former Tottenham Hotspur stars), tickets were never going to be "cheap" (plus it was another 7:30 start).

Speaking of tickets, BTW, this is what I managed to find for this game:

Yes, the actual view of the game is a bit awkward, but...I got into club level seats for a literal quarter over 30 dollars! Once again, this ticket came from TicketMaster as a resale ticket, which allowed me to see just how much I saved over face value (which I will not disclose). While the actual "club" itself is very similar to the other club sections I've been to (i.e. a specialized concession area with areas to sit and eat), my actual seat was part of this "club section", and unlike the other seats I've had at Citi Field, this one was PADDED!

I had FOUR events I was considering for this particular day, but Citi ended up "winning" in the end because two would have involved hour+ long drives (which I was hoping to avoid as I went to Philadelphia the weekend before), and the last one was >$100 on the secondary market (but I will explain more as - surprise surprise - I still want to check the place out sometime). Having said that, however, NYC got a gift lead but gave up a stoppage-time equalizer against the Montréal Impact Club de Foot CF Montréal - a former lower-league darling that became an MLS club which is currently second worst in the league and at the "live long enough to see its owner become the villain" stage of its existence (with its future apparently unknown). With this result, unfortunately...New York City FC is now officially OUT of the 2026 MLS Cup playoffs.

P.S.: I did also consider going to the team's home opener on March 7 - a 5-0 drubbing of fellow 2015 expansion side Orlando City that featured a goalie red card - but ended up not going (partially due to logistics surrounding parking and getting to Westchester SC later that day²). Also, I legitimately wonder what the future holds for NYCFC and their stadium (as well as several over soccer teams around the world) given the situation with the parent club in England...but what I DO know is that unless the "TBD" game next spring is at Citi Field, then THIS is the last time New York City FC will play here (as the team announced that all but one of its games in the sprint season will be at Yankee Stadium).