It has been a long push for New York City FC to have a stadium to call their own, but patience may pay off. On Wednesday, the team released more public renderings of their stadium that is set to open in Willets Point in 2027, and they show that NYCFC’s willingness to wait for the right project is also backed by their pursuit of a stadium that can be considered Major League Soccer’s crown jewel.
NYCFC hopes “The Cube” will become the crown jewel of MLS stadiums
Their new stadium renderings show a desire to attract fans to Willets Point.
The stadium, which will sit across the street from the New York Mets’ Citi Field, is expected to hold 25,000 fans, but NYCFC wanted fans to be wowed by the stadium even as they enter.
Enter “The Cube.”
“The Cube” is NYCFC’s main entrance to the stadium. It will be an entrance 7 stories tall, with 11,000 square feet of LED screens to welcome you into the stadium with ads and other hype videos.
“Really, we want to blow people away,” said New York City FC CEO Brad Sims in an interview with MLSSoccer.com. “You’re at the start of your experience, as you’re entering or you’re walking into the facility....[so] you’re going to have a lot of people walking up, and we want this ‘wow’ moment when you’re coming in the stadium, that there really is this fantastic sense of arrival. The Cube, we think it’s unlike anything in any other soccer stadium or any other sports venue that we’ve seen.”
And the team is right. The Cube is the centerpiece of what looks to be a dazzling stadium that could easily be viewed as the best in the league when it finally opens in a few years. NYCFC continues to learn from the stadiums that have opened in recent years, trying to truly understand what their fans might want and to attract people to Willets Point when their palace opens.
“Every time a new stadium is built, we go check it out. And we’re checking in constantly with the teams over there about what’s working well, what might not work, where did they maybe miss the mark and what would they recommend that we do different,” Sims said. “So one benefit of this process taking so long for us is that we’ve been able to benefit from a lot of other buildings that have opened and been able to provide us with intel and best practices. We think we’re in a good position.”
In the end, they want their new stadium in Queens to have a New York City state of mind. They want to have some elements of the City That Never Sleeps, and they desire an atmosphere that can attract and unite those who call New York City home. They know they have an opportunity to grow their fanbase with a new permanent home, and they even introduced a brand refresh ahead of their home opener to try and unite the 5 boroughs behind the team.
Stadium renderings very often end up being the dream that reality cannot meet, and it will be up to the team to deliver on the promise that this new stadium brings. However, if NYCFC’s new stadium in finished form can look anything like what they have planned, they will establish a new standard of stadium design and help Major League Soccer present another reason for the world to pay attention.
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