NYCFC's Etihad Park is almost built: a 7-story LED 'Cube' entrance, a five-borough food hall and a July 17 opening

New York City's first soccer-specific stadium is starting to look finished. NYCFC showed off Etihad Park, the 25,000-seat venue rising in Willets Point in the shadow of Citi Field, on a tour Saturday, and the club says it is on track to open on July 17, 2027, the start of the 2027-28 MLS season, QNS reported.

"Our goal is that you know you're in New York," NYCFC chief operating officer Jen O'Sullivan said on the tour, according to QNS.

What fans will see

• The Cube: Up to 70% of fans will enter through a seven-story entrance wrapped in LED screens, about 11,000 square feet, showing matchday information and local artwork. O'Sullivan described it as New York City's answer to the Sphere in Las Vegas.
• Big screens: The two video boards inside will be, combined, the largest at any MLS stadium.
• Views: The concourses will look out toward the Manhattan skyline.
• City Square: A 40,000-square-foot plaza with a "Five Borough Food Hall" of about 10 vendors from around the city on game days. On other days the club plans farmers' markets, kids' soccer tournaments and private events there.

The club calls it the first fully electric sports stadium in New York City and in MLS, MLSsoccer.com reported when the opening date was announced in July.

The road to opening day

Crews expect to install the field in the coming weeks, before winter sets in, NYCFC senior project manager Ian Wilson told QNS. Because the site sits on a floodplain, the pitch is supported on piles to get past the unstable soil. Wilson said the project stayed on schedule despite a cold, snowy winter early this year.

Before the opener, the club plans a soft launch. Starting in April, NYCFC will run small test events, trying out City Square, specific entrances and seating sections, team training sessions, and the kitchens and concession stands, CEO Brad Sims told QNS in August. An international friendly is in the works for June.

Who pays

NYCFC is financing the stadium, expected to cost about $800 million. But the city's Independent Budget Office has estimated the deal could cost the city $538 million in forgone tax revenue, because the club will not pay property taxes over its 49-year lease, QNS noted.

The stadium anchors a new 23-acre neighborhood planned to include 2,500 affordable apartments, a 650-seat public school, a hotel and more than 150,000 square feet of public open space, according to MLSsoccer.com. NYCFC broke ground in December 2024 and has played its home games at Yankee Stadium and other borrowed venues since joining MLS in 2015.