Buying In: The New Citizens of Yankee Stadium

The New York City Football Club was announced as “a thing” twenty-two months ago.

The number of objections I raised to this announcement were… numerous. A joint venture between the evil empire and oil money. Carbon-copy powder blue uniforms. MLS diving into a two-team market after just embarrassingly abandoning its only other attempt. No stadium plan. No more hoping the Cosmos re-birth could join the MLS.

Then they came out with their slick logo, with the hint of orange. And then they stole away Jason Kries, historically the most successful MLS coach not named Arenas. And then they signed my favorite striker in the world. And then they signed one of my favorite American players, with one of my favorite heads of hair.

And then, all of a sudden, you’re in the moment. And it’s hard to not get romantic watching David Villa do his trademark air-slice celebration down the first base line in Yankee Stadium. I’m not saying that I’m forsaking the Philadelphia Union crest, but I’m going to need to ask for some forgiveness. I’m feeling a little crystal blue persuasion.

The culture will need plenty of work, sure. I don’t think I heard the supporters section in the left field bleachers articulate anything more than once the entire match, and that was for an “asshole” chant after a New England player scored a *millisecond* after a whistle. The crowd boo’ed out every Revolution chant the visiting supporters section put up. “N-Y-C” is a silly thing to chant over and over. The wave was a thing, briefly.

These things take time. It’s a process. (Just like getting fans into the stadium, another thing Yankee Stadium didn’t seem to be ready for.) This team, created out of nothing, has only played 180 competitive minutes. Maybe the Third Rail is collectively brainstorming the cleverest and punniest chants for their next home match in two weeks, and will then hand out verses to the whole squad in the bleachers. New fans will slowly become more soccer savvy. The weather will get warmer.

And while no one expects to fill Yankee Stadium for every match, it already feels like the city has bought in more on this team than they ever did on the Metrostars/Red Bulls franchise. Just like every new MLS team, the Metrostars played their first season opener to a packed house of 40K+. But, I can say with supreme certainty that everyone left the Bronx yesterday with a far better taste in their mouth than they did leaving Giants Stadium in 1996.

The team is also not named after a soft drink, which makes this the rare situation where not having a team name is better than having one.

More disparate thoughts on the NYCFC Home Opener:

• As a new Brooklyn resident, transferring G to L to 5 to 4 made for quite the trek to the Bronx. Yes, the last one in there was unnecessary. Learning new things every day.
• The match day scarf I bought (along with what seemed like 43,506 others) labeled the game: “Historic” Home Opener. Just a bit egotistical, no?
• We saw one woman buying about $250 worth of hats in front of us in line.
• While I’m on attendance, the Telegraph had this note: “It was, however, less than the 49,653 that saw Manchester City play Liverpool at Yankee Stadium last summer.”
• Concessions and bathrooms in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium are a breeze when the top sections are completely empty.
• I have now seen baseball, football, and soccer played at New Yankee. When’s the Winter Classic being held here?
• Ashanti crushed the National Anthem. Ja Rule did not make an appearance.
• There were multiple times, during both halves, where every field player on the pitch would have fit in a tidy 30x30 yard box. Yes, it’s a tinier than normal pitch. Still regulation.
• One Red Bulls fan (there were a handful) I spoke with who lives in Jersey City told me his branding pipe dream— the Newark Red Bulls. Embrace the strong Newark and New Jersey soccer market wholeheartedly, villanize NYCFC, call it the Hudson River derby. Sounds good to me.
• Other innovative chants heard during the parade exit to the subway: “Da-vid Vi-lla”, “Boston Sucks”, “Fuck Tom Brady”… did I mention “N-Y-C” already?