Recently, the MLS made a big announcement that they will be adding a 20th team to the league. The even bigger thing is that that new expansion team will be based in New York City (likely Queens area). The team is called NYC FC (New York City Football Club). New York is the biggest market in the United States and yes even though the MLS already has the New York Red Bulls, there is room for another team in New York. The thing about the Red Bulls is they actually play their home games in New Jersey, so who really knows how many people from New York attend their games.
NYC FC will give New Yorkers a team to call their own and it will be easier for them to attend the game in the metropolitan area. What’s exciting about this team is that they are co-owned by the people that own professional football club Manchester City in England and the New York Yankees. For those of you that don’t know, Manchester City are owned by billionaires and they have a lot of money to spend. It will be interesting to see the partnership between Manchester City and the New York Yankees. It isn’t the easiest thing to lure big name players in their prime to play in the USA, but if any team can do it, it would be NYC FC with all their money.
The New York Red Bulls have Thierry Henry, once one of the biggest names in soccer (football). David Beckham recently spent six seasons playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy and we all know how big of a name David Beckham is. The Montreal Impact signed some big name players last year that used to play in Italy; Alessandro Nesta and Marco Di Vaio. The MLS is growing and they are attracting more talent and bigger names. It only seems fitting that the next step to help grow the league would be to add a new team in the heart of New York. The lure of playing in New York will be attractive to big name players in Europe that want a change or a move to the United States. It will be interesting to see what players are on NYC FC when they begin play in 2015. You know that the owners will want at least one big name player on the team from the start. They have vowed to be competitive from the very start.
There are some great fan bases in the MLS; particularly in Portland & Seattle. I have full faith that NYC FC will attract a big following and group of supporters. New Yorkers love their sports and their sports teams and NYC FC will be no different. It will be an exciting time for both New York and the MLS when NYC FC begin playing.