It’s time for our weekly update on New York 2. That’s shorthand for the hypothetical second Major League Soccer franchise in the New York market, a team that seems to become more likely with each passing day.
Friday was one of those days, both literally and metaphorically. That’s when league commissioner Don Garber briefed local media on the status of a new stadium in the Big Apple. According to the league, a deal could be finalized in the next 30 days, one which would see groundbreaking in 2014 ahead of a 2016 or 2017 opening.
The chosen site is at Flushing Meadows, out near the U.S.T.A. Tennis Center and the New York Mets’ Citi Field. The cost will be about $300 million, with a stadium capacity between 25,000 and 35,000.
To me, this kind of casual coverage is amazing. New stadiums just get built in MLS now? There are not huge headlines? As if we should be surprised? It’s something we expect? That’s amazing, but when you look at Houston, Kansas City, Philadelphia ... Harrison ... yeah - I guess this is the state of the modern MLS world. That time not-so-long ago when getting a soccer specific stadium was caused to sound the league’s trumpets? Gone. Now, Don Garber’s having press briefings as if there’s the league’s established a standard operation procedure for the stadium process.
And that’s a good thing. It’s an amazing thing. Most of the time, people forget about what the pre-Garber MLS was like (and as a testament to his guidance, a lot of new fans can’t remember it).
Now the expectation is that MLS franchises will have good stadiums, and there are various people within the league that know how to get it done. Hopefully, some of this experience can be leveraged in D.C. and New England.
But as it concerns New York, the stadium news brings better focus to the end game: a second team in the country’s biggest market. That’s an issue league diehards have kicked around for some time, but with this “world’s park” facility on the verge of happening, it’s worth bringing up again: Can New York 2 coexist with New York 1? Otherwise known as the New York Red Bulls. Will the new team cannibalize the Red Bulls’ casual audience? Why would this duel dual market work when Los Angeles’s has become a have and a have not?
There’s also the assumption that the currently semi-dormant New York Cosmos will eventually occupy the facility. Their brand is still more recognizable than Red Bulls’.
Bigger brand in the shiny new park that’s in the actual city (as opposed to New Jersey)? It doesn’t sound good for the Red Bulls.