With plans for NYC F.C.‘s new soccer stadium in the Bronx going nowhere in particular and the new city council speaker remaining opposed to it, the expansion team still needs to announce a site to play in for the 2015 season. And team officials are going to announce one real soon now, they swear:
“We’re close on that. We’ll soon announce where we’ll be playing,” [NYC F.C. director Claudio] Reyna said. “Within the next month. We expect to have an announcement within the next month.”
“Expect to,” check. Reading way, way, between the lines, I’m guessing this is a matter of ironing out any remaining haggles with MLB over maintaining the condition of the field at the Yankees‘ stadium? Either way, I’ll be shocked if NYC F.C. doesn’t play at the Yankees’ home next year, if only because there’s really nowhere else in the city for them to play (except for Citi Field, which would have the same MLB issues and is controlled by the Mets, who are already cranky that the Yankees got a piece of ownership of the MLS franchise and not them), but it may take a while to iron out.
And speaking of taking a while, Reyna had this to say about building a soccer-only stadium:
“We’re still looking, we’re talking to the city,” Reyna said. “There’s a lot of possibilities for the stadium and we’re continuing to do our job, which won’t be easy, but we feel good about it. We have a team of executives that are working very hard to not only get a stadium that we’re happy with, but that is good for the city of New York as well.”
Translation: We got nothing. Wherever NYC F.C. settles in “temporarily,” expect them to be there for a while.
The Don and his ownership groups already got their expansion money. Everything else is simply minor details, because it’s impossible to imagine the MLS slapping them with anything resembling an ultimatum regarding their stadium situation.
I suspect that the Stadium will happen faster than many suspect. There are a lot of projects that will be finished between now and 2016, and the City will need more high paying UNION Construction jobs going forward, and I guarantee you that DeBlasio and the City Council are very aware of this. The Soccer Stadium is a not a difficult project as far as NYC is concerned.
David: From all accounts, Mark-Viverito *really* does not like this plan, and she’s not only council speaker, she’s the rep for the district where the stadium would be built. Not saying it will never happen, but this is shaping up to be an even bigger lift than the Queens stadium plan that got shot down by the council rep there.
I’m having a hard time seeing MLB going along with this. Outside of DC United and the Nats – when it was a definitely a temporary arrangement and MLB was the interloper – when was the last time an MLB team shared a natural-grass stadium with another team of any kind? And with seasons that coincide from start to finish? Players regularly make noise about the condition of single-purpose fields, I can imagine the reaction to the conditions they’ll find at a shared Yankee Stadium.
I can’t think of any, Keith, but then there are no outdoor sports other than soccer that have seasons that overlap with MLB. The A’s and Raiders share a stadium, of course, and plenty of other MLB and NFL teams used to back in olden times, so it’s not unprecedented.
My guess is that this will eventually happen because the Yankees want it to happen, and other MLB owners no doubt will like to raise some extra revenues as well at no cost to themselves other than some worn sod. But it’s always possible NYCFC will surprise me and play on Randall’s Island or a barge in the middle of the harbor or something.
Neil, we agree that the Council Speaker opposes this, and eventually it will likely happen because of the pull of the Yankees. However, I think DeBlasio will be interesting to watch on this. I think a lot of people underestimate him, and think he is extreme, but although he is certainly far to the left of my views, he has the potential for greatness, because he is willing to take unpopular stands and not back away from them no matter what anyone thinks. I would rather have a left winger who stands for what he believes than someone like Quinn who is weaker. If he wants this, it will happen if not, wait until the 2020’s. My gut feeling is there will be a horse trade to get the Stadium built.
David,
I understand your point of view regarding union jobs, etc… But don’t forget that construction jobs are temporary and the jobs from a stadium that is in use for only 17 days a year would be minimal, low-wage and without benefits. I think it you should also not overlook how this would play out for DeBlasio. 83% of roughly 500 local residents said they oppose the stadium. Allowing the development of a new soccer stadium would go against everything he campaigned on and would signal ‘business-as-usual’ for the City and, indeed, the Bronx, which historically has been the dumping grounds of all that is undesirable in wealthy neighborhoods. This site, I think, will be developed but not with a stadium.