The motivation behind Gotham FC’s move to Queens: ‘Elevate our team’
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The motivation behind Gotham FC’s move to Queens: ‘Elevate our team’
An image collage containing 3 images, Image 1 shows Gotham FC officials and New York City politicians posing with jerseys for the team's new Etihad Park stadium, Image 2 shows Aerial view of Etihad Park under construction, with a river and city in the background, Image 3 shows Illustration of fans entering Etihad Park, with
Jonathan Lehman
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4 min read
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Gotham FC is moving to the big city — from New Jersey to Queens, where starting in 2028, the reigning NWSL champion will play home games at New York City FC's soon-to-be-opened Etihad Park.
But themove to New York City's first soccer-specific stadium, officially announced Tuesday at a City Hall set piece with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul, is more than your typical tale of growing up and nabbing a residence in a shiny new development. To the team's stewards, it represents something bigger and more global.
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"We set a vision to be one of the best teams in the world, and to be one of the best teams in the world, you have to play in world-class venues," Gotham owner Carolyn Tisch Blodgett told The Post. "It felt like this was the place to elevate our team to the next level."
Gotham FC president of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West and owner Carolyn Tisch Blodgett stand with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards at City Hall on July 7, 2026. James Keivom for the NY Post
Etihad Park, the 25,000-seat, roughly $1 billion project near Citi Field in Willets Point that is set to open in 2027 for its MLS occupants, "matches Gotham FC's standard of excellence," Mamdani said.
Gotham will start on a five-year lease with options to extend it up to 15 years, per a team spokesperson.
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Gotham has played at Sports Illustrated Stadium, formerly known as Red Bull Arena, in Harrison, N.J., since 2021, and will remain there through the 2027 season.
The upgrades at Etihad Park? Gotham will have a dedicated locker room for the first time. With the stadium's all-digital signage, "on game day, it will truly feel like a Gotham home — it will be completely branded," Tisch Blodgett said. There will also be better food and drink options. And new constituencies.
"Our ability to create that kind of atmosphere on game day that gives us a true home-field advantage where other teams hate coming to play against us and we have our crowd packed out all rowdy, I think is really exciting," president of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West told The Post.
Gotham averaged 8,892 fans in 2025, which ranked eighth of 14 NWSL teams. This season, it's 8,148 (12th of 16), though that figure is expected to rise as the weather warms up and with the July 15 Queens Classic at Citi Field expected to draw in the neighborhood of 40,000.
An aerial view of Etihad Park under construction. Courtesy Gotham FC
"Our goal is to fill a game every single week. We should be sold out. That's what women's sports deserve," Tisch Blodgett said.
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A recurring data point brought up Tuesday: The new Queens location makes Gotham games accessible to an additional 3 million people within a 75-minute public transit commute. Tisch Blodgett also said internal data show 60 percent of Gotham's current season ticket holders and fans will have the same travel time or less.
"What we hear from our fans over and over is they absolutely love the product, they love the experience and it's really hard to get to," Tisch Blodgett said. "And that limits them."
A rendering of Gotham FC game-day branding on Etihad Park, set to open in 2027. Courtesy Gotham FC
The other side of those tracks: The diehards based closer to Harrison or the team's previous home (in the Sky Blue days) at Rutgers, for whom a trip to the end of the 7 line will be prohibitive.
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Gotham also recently announced plans to open its own training facility in Whippany, N.J.
"New Jersey is where this team was born. It's where our formative years were, and so we have thought a lot about: How do we continue to make this accessible?" Tisch Blodgett said. "We hope as many fans as possible will move with us."
MLS' adoption of a late-summer-to-spring calendar for the 2027-28 season will ease scheduling concerns between NYCFC and Gotham, which plays from spring to fall. Still, expect plenty of two-game weekends and even some day-night doubleheaders. A partnership that was a "couple of years in the making," according to NYCFC CEO Brad Sims, officially kicked off Tuesday.
"They were very, very interested in what we were building from Day 1 and our vision for the stadium," Sims told The Post, "and we were interested in their organization because it's a great organization."
