Etihad Park in Queens to open on July 17, 2027, NYCFC team CEO announces

The delayed opening of New York City FC's Etihad Park in Queens has been set for July 17 next summer, the start of the team's 2027-28 season as Major League Soccer shifts to a calendar in alignment with most European leagues.

Brad Sims, NYCFC's CEO, made the announcement Thursday at an MLS event in conjunction with this weekend's FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey. 

"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."

Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League announced this month it will play its home games at Etihad Park starting in 2028.

When NYCFC broke ground in December 2024 for the 25,000-seat venue across from Citi Field, the New York Mets' home, NYCFC said the stadium would open for the 2027 season, but last February announced a delay.

NYCFC will continue to play most home games at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field in the league's truncated transition season of 2027. 

Since taking the field in 2015, NYCFC has played home games primarily at those venues along with some at the home of the rival New York Red Bulls in Harrison, New Jersey, and Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.

NYCFC won the 2021 MLS title.

"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, venue changes, guys not 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," Sims said. "A home for our supporters. A home of our staff. But the way I sort of look at it, it's a home for the world's game in the world's city."

The new stadium will also be a site of soccer matches during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The MLS team's controlling owner is City Football Group, the parent company of England's Manchester City. The Premier League team's venue was renamed Etihad Stadium in July 2011.