Born out of a partnership between budding European super club Manchester City FC and the New York Yankees, New York City FC was expected to take MLS by storm when the team was announced in May 2013.
While a series of missteps before the club’s first official game has left some fans rattled, the franchise now is looking to make its statement of intent on the pitch.
“One of our biggest challenges ahead is simply performing over the 34-plus matches and putting out a competitive soccer club,” said New York City FC President Tom Glick. “We want to play an exciting style of play and we want to be competitive from the beginning, and ultimately win.”
Glick, who had been the chief commercial and operating officer of Manchester City since 2012 and previously spent more than 16 years working in professional sports in the U.S., was named president in January. Tim Pernetti, who had been serving as chief business officer, announced at the same time that he was leaving to take a position in WME-IMG’s college business.
It is the club’s relationship with Manchester City that has caused some uproar from fans, especially as it relates to midfielder Frank Lampard.
A former England national team player most known for his career with EPL club Chelsea, Lampard was announced in July 2014 as New York City FC’s second designated player, following an earlier deal for the club with David Villa to be its first designated player.
However, Lampard was then signed on loan by Manchester City until January, a deal that was then extended through June, in the middle of the MLS season. It was later revealed that Lampard never was under contract with New York City FC and rather had made only a verbal commitment.
He has since signed an official deal and will join the club on July 1.
Glick, who was involved in the New York City FC team rights acquisition in his previous role, said the City Football Group (Manchester City’s holding group) is “laser-focused on soccer fans here in New York, and we have a strong day-to-day team on the ground to continue to build this club from the ground up.”
“It is very important to us to be connected with New Yorkers,” Glick said, “and we’ve been working very hard at that, as well as to create something that reflects that relationship. But I think that the evidence shows that interest continues to grow, and people are voting with their wallets.”
While many of the team’s biggest storylines have played out on the local tabloids’ back pages, the business side of
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The new club has had to recover from early fan uproar over roster moves.
Photo by: New York City FC |
the club — carrying on without the same level of attention — has fared well. Glick said the club has sold more than 14,000 full-season tickets. Playing in its temporary home of Yankee Stadium, the club has no top-end limits on the number of tickets it can sell, he said.
Also encouraging, Glick said, is the fact that for 65 percent of its season-ticket holder base, this is the first season ticket they have bought in any sport, and the demographic is skewing toward those in their 20s and 30s. “We have a generation of fans who have grown up following the sport, and that’s very exciting for us,” he said.
In regard to the club’s home stadium, Glick said the team is continuing to work on having a stadium built within the five boroughs of New York, but there are no new updates on the progress. The team will play in Yankee Stadium until a new stadium is ready.
The partnership business also has been strong for the club, which has been able to tap into City Football Group’s broader international sales and marketing teams.
“For City Football Group, one of the reasons the investment was made to start the team was to establish the business in New York and tap into this corporate market,” Glick said. “We’ve been able to partner with great local New York partners like New York Presbyterian Hospital and Modell’s, but also work with Etihad Airways and Nissan, who have invested in all of our football clubs.”
He added that the club has additional partnerships still to be announced, too.
Ahead, the club is going to continue to invest in New York, both on the field and off, Glick said. The club plans to use its third allowed designated player spot. New York City FC also will further invest in youth development in the area, following the establishment of a youth academy and a developmental league in the metro area last month. The academy will be linked to sister clubs in Australia and Japan and with the larger City Football Academy in Manchester.
“Our approach is that we’re building a club, not just a single first team that plays in MLS, so we want to participate in the community and affect the development of soccer here in New York City,” Glick said. “City Football Group is a soccer group first, and we believe in playing an attractive, exciting style of play. And we want to bring that brand to Yankee Stadium.”
