NYCFC Stadium Draft Lease Reveals Potential for NWSL Club, Marijuana Sales, Etihad Airlines Naming Rights, and No More Games at Red Bull Arena
More details emerge on stadium naming rights, lease terms, the future search for a roommate, and NYCFC’s “green friendly” home.
With the necessary municipal approvals completed, New York City Football Club fans recently received a comprehensive look at their future stadium. Where the supporter’s section will be, locations of food and beverage options, designs of entrances and exits, and the home for the Founding Members’ bricks. However, some burning questions remain: What will the name be?1 Will the club play every game at the new stadium and for how long? When will construction start?
The Draft Lease
On May 22, 2024, the Queens Borough Board approved the business terms for the stadium parcel of the upcoming Willets Point Phase 2 Development. The next day, these terms received Mayoral authorization. On Monday, the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s (NYCEDC) Real Estate and Finance Committee approved allowing the New York City Land Development Corporation (NYCLDC) to enter into a lease with the developers, moving the motion further along to a NYCEDC’s Board of Directors vote this upcoming Tuesday, June 18th.
These approvals allow the City to enter into a 49-year lease with New York City FC, including a 25-year club option. The club will pay $500,000 a year in rent until the stadium is completed, after which the rent increases to $1 million per year with future escalations landing around $4 million per year by the end of the initial lease. The 25-year option will include an annual fair market value rent determined by an appraisal, which “cannot be any lower than what the existing threshold is at the time of the lease expiration” according to Monday’s NYCEDC’s Real Estate and Finance Committee meeting.
The length of the lease and dollar amounts to be paid are not the only interesting minutiae to emerge as the lease and other ancillary agreements are finalized. In October 2023, the developers entered into a Pre-Development Agreement (PDA) with NYCEDC, which was ratified two months later. The Outfield has obtained that agreement, including a draft lease2 for the stadium, containing additional details about the future home for NYCFC.
Etihad Airways Stadium?
According to the draft lease, Etihad Airways is approved as the “Initial Naming Rights Party” and will hold that title until the Naming Rights Agreement ends in 2036. If another entity is selected as the ultimate naming rights partner, additional rent will be owed to the City. The Outfield first reported in May 2023 that the primary kit sponsor for New York City FC was pre-approved to hold the naming rights for the new stadium. Etihad Airways also holds the kit and stadium naming rights for City Football Group sister club Manchester City.
Although Etihad Airways has been pre-approved as the naming rights partner even before the stadium announcement, NYCFC has refrained from mentioning this, using placeholders such as “Stadium Name”, “Naming Rights Sponsor Stadium”, and “Sponsor Stadium Name”. During Monday’s meeting, when naming rights were specifically discussed, “naming rights partner” was used instead of directly mentioning Etihad Airways. NYCFC has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Looking for a Roommate
According to both the PDA and the draft lease, New York City FC is required to identify a second professional soccer club to play all or some of its home games at the new stadium. NYCFC could include “without limitations” an NWSL, MLS Next Pro, USL Pro club, or any professional men’s or women’s club competing in a second- or third-division league sanctioned by US Soccer.
One option is New York City FC’s current MLS Next Pro team, New York City FC II, which plays its home games at Belson Stadium on the campus of St. John’s University. However, whether they will relocate their home matches to Willets Point is unclear. In March 2023, NYCFC CEO Brad Sims told Hudson River Blue that his intentions are for NYCFC II to play in a smaller capacity stadium outside of Queens.
NYCFC has no affiliation with a professional women’s team but they have considered that route previously. Preliminary discussions were held in 2014 with Sky Blue FC (now known as NJ/NY Gotham FC), but no official collaboration or purchase has been made. Sims also told Hudson River Blue during that same March 2023 interview that a women’s team is potentially in the club’s future. The PDA and draft lease confirm this interest in having a women's team.
No More Games at Baseball Stadiums! Well…
As initially reported by The Outfield in May 2023 and later confirmed in the Non-Relocation Agreement obtained by The Outfield, New York City FC will have the option to play up to three home games (including regular season, playoff, or “other games”) at an alternate stadium with “a seating capacity over 38,000 seats”. Before considering alternative venues, NYCFC must endeavor to schedule any such game at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, Rutgers’ SHI Stadium in Piscataway, NJ, and Army’s Michie Stadium in West Point, NY stands as the only other three sports stadiums in the New York City Metropolitan area3 that meet the capacity requirements.
While games may still be played in baseball stadiums, the capacity requirement will eliminate any future matches at Red Bull Arena once the new stadium is complete. Additionally, the Non-Relocation agreement permits one of these three matches to be played outside the NYC Metropolitan area, potentially facilitating the hosting of an MLS match internationally, similar to the NFL’s International Series or MLB’s London Series.
Similarly, the Non-Relocation Agreement grants NYCFC the opportunity to host “low attendance other games” in stadiums with a capacity of less than 10,000 seats. This would likely be reserved for preseason, friendlies, or US Open Cup matches as MLS games are not included in this scenario.
Scheduling and Parking
Parking requirements almost derailed New York City FC’s stadium plans when New York Mets owner Steve Cohen initially balked at providing access to Citi Field parking lots for events at the proposed soccer stadium. However, shortly before the City Council voted on the stadium proposal, NYCFC and the Mets reached an agreement allowing the use of up to 4,000 parking spots for a maximum of 40 stadium events per year.
This Scheduling and Parking Agreement (SPA) allows the Mets to retain all revenue from parking operations during soccer stadium events. It also imposes strict scheduling requirements to prevent conflicts with Mets game days, other major Citi Field events, and the US Open at the nearby Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
According to the Final Environmental Impact Statement, scheduling of soccer stadium events is prohibited within six hours before or seven hours after the start of baseball games at Citi Field. It is unclear whether soccer stadium events will be prohibited during the three weeks of the US Open or only subject to scheduling limitations.
The PDA further specifies that events at the soccer stadium “shall not be required to reschedule(d)…if the Mets’ schedule changes”. This language suggests that the above scheduling covenant will not necessitate NYCFC to adjust match dates or times based on Mets game postponements. The SPA is set to expire at the end of the Mets lease at Citi Field, which could extend as far as 2106 according to members of NYCEDC’s Real Estate and Finance Committee.
NYCFC’s Green Friendly Stadium
The newest stadium in Major League Soccer is slated to be environmentally friendly, aiming to become the “first fully electric stadium in Major League Soccer.” The club is also implementing a comprehensive sustainability plan to be as green as possible.
The environmental considerations are not the only “green-friendly” aspect of the stadium. According to the draft lease (heavy emphasis on the term “DRAFT”), “Tenant may sell or authorize the sale of marijuana at the Premises”, with a caveat that this would be subject to other prohibited uses, such as no smoking. Whether the club currently plans to allow the sale of marijuana products at the new stadium or if this clause is included merely to keep options open remains to be seen. NYCFC has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Regardless of whether marijuana is sold at the new NYCFC stadium, fans attending should still strive to maintain good behavior. According to the PDA, the new stadium plans to include on-site premises for an NYPD facility which will feature “cell/detainment areas for disorderly patrons and space to process such patrons and hold such patrons”.
What’s Next?
Breaking ground and signing the lease agreement are the major next steps in this process. Construction needs to wait until 120 days have passed following the ULURP approval provided there are no legal challenges. This sets the expiration of the 120 days sometime in early to mid-August, allowing for infrastructure work to begin.
The important thing is that a picture of all the politicians wielding fancy shovels next to a pile of dirt will likely materialize very soon. ❧
Image: M.C. Escher, Day and Night
Let’s stop kidding ourselves. We’ve known what it’s going to be the whole time.
As these are draft lease terms, they are subject to change.
New York City Metropolitan Area is defined as (a) Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Putnam, and Rockland Counties in the State of New York, (b) Bergen, Hudson, Passaic, Essex, Morris, Union, Middlesex, and Monmouth Counties in the State of New Jersey, and (c) Fairfield County in the State of Connecticut
Love all you do, Chris. Keep up the great work!
Great job, Soups.