New York City FC will open its long-awaited Etihad Park on July 17, 2027, with the club’s first home match of the 2027-28 Major League Soccer season following the league’s shift to a calendar aligned with most European competitions.
Club CEO Brad Sims announced the opening date on Thursday at an MLS event held alongside this weekend’s FIFA World Cup final.
“This is 12, 13 years in the making,” Sims said. “A lot of people put in so much hard work, time and effort vetting out dozens and dozens of sites around the five boroughs: starts, stops, good news, bad news.”
National Women’s Soccer League side Gotham FC announced earlier this month that it will make Etihad Park its home from 2028.
When NYCFC broke ground on the 25,000-seat stadium next to the New York Mets’ Citi Field in December 2024, the club had expected to open the venue for the 2027 MLS season. However, it announced a delay in February 2026. During the league’s shortened transition campaign in 2027, NYCFC will continue to play most of its home matches at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field.
Since entering MLS in 2015, NYCFC has primarily split its home fixtures between those venues, while also staging matches at the New York Red Bulls’ stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, and Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.
The club won its maiden MLS Cup title in 2021.
“We have one of the best records in Major League Soccer, one of the highest point totals throughout our history bouncing from venue to venue,” Sims said. “Guys aren’t sure where they should live because they don’t know how many games they’re going to play in different places. It takes a toll.
“A home for our supporters. A home for our staff. But the way I look at it, it’s a home for the world’s game in the world’s city.”
Etihad Park will also stage football matches during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
NYCFC is majority owned by City Football Group, which also owns Premier League club Manchester City. Manchester City’s home ground has been known as the Etihad Stadium since 2011.
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Published on Jul 17, 2026