Hudson River Blue executive editor Oliver Strand and senior editor Andrew Leigh sat down with New York City FC president and CEO Brad Sims at the clubâs 30th-floor headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. With a rain-soaked view of the Hudson River behind him, Sims told us why Lionel Messi is diving up ticket sales across the country, why he’s eager to add a women’s team, and why the pro/anti pigeon debate might be the most divisive issue at NYCFC.
Note: This interview was edited for length and clarity.
The Messi effect: All MLS boats rise
Hudson River Blue: A year ago when we spoke, the Apple TV deal was new and Messi was a fantasy. So, weâve had a year of both. What has been the effect of Apple on the club? Also, has Messi had an effect on New York City?
Brad Sims: The answer is yes to both, and I think both are very positive. The Apple partnership I think has exceeded my expectations in Year One. They had to get up and going very fast, build a studio, hire talent, and hadnât done anything even remotely to this scale previously.
To me, this is the advantage of having an Apple linkâfor customers, the product, having an intuitive product for fans, something thatâs fan-friendly, visually and aesthetically pleasing, is what Appleâs all about, and to me, is a massive upgrade. No disrespect to previous broadcast partners, but the actual product itself is fantastic.
They listen to fans. Itâs amazing. Tim Cook will look at tweets and get feedback from fans, they would change things abouit the broadcasts, the MLS 360 show, they would change things from week to week, based on social listening, listening to things they were hearing from fans, to optimize their experience.
Iâm at all our games home or away pretty much usually, and I try to watch other games when I can, and my personal take is, from a fan standpoint, itâs fantastic â itâs one-stop shopping, all games in one place. That was a big challenge before, the fragmentation of regional games vs. national games, and multiple national broadcasters. Having that one-stop shop, having all the different content, and the way theyâve executed, has been fantastic. Really pleased, theyâre really invested, they really care, theyâre really invested in growing the game, growing subscribers, promoting across all their channels.
Just the amount of people who have an Apple product or people who follow Apple News, or Apple Music, or Apple Fitness, all the different ways they can push things out, partnerships they have, the clout of Apple is so significant, fantastic partner, going into Year Two, really excited.
And by the way, they also helped land Messi. No one knows, but if Apple isnât our broadcaster, I donât know if Messi is in MLS right now. They play a key role in that piece, in getting him here. Messi, obviously the impact generally is, itâs kids and casual fans, people that donât really pay that much attention to soccer, that all of a sudden, itâs must-see TV for them, itâs water cooler conversation. The amount of people who have said to me, âIs that your league?â Yes. âMessi, oh my god, thatâs amazing!âPeople who never think of soccer, soccer is now on their radar, and they think âOh I should go to a New York City FC game,â or game in whatever market theyâre in.
I feel like thereâs a “rising tide lifts all ships” momentum, that soccer is in right now, and the tide keeps on rising. The legitimacy of having an Apple on board, arguably one of the worldâs biggest and best and most desirable companies in any industry, that legitimacy they bring. Then the worldâs best player, the legitimacy that brings, this kind of rising tide, people are banking on the 2026 World Cup.
But now, that we have all this, the tide is higher in 2024 than I think people thought it would be. It was almost like, weâre going to wait for the tide to rise in 2026 and thatâs when things are taking off, itâs almost like we got pre-rocket fuel rocket-fuel, before 2026 in this sport.
The impact for us, just in terms of business metrics, 2024 by far our best year ever of selling new City Memberships. New season tickets.
HRB: Here in New York?
Brad Sims: By far and away.
HRB: And you relate that to Messi?
Brad Sims: I think some of it is direct, people want to make sure they have that game, and thatâs the way to do it.
But I also think, generally, there are just people who have been interested in soccer, wondering about soccer, knew about us, maybe have been to a game or two, these macro things, whether itâs Apple or Messi, push them over the edge. “Alright, Iâm in.â
Weâre seeing it across the league. I had a call with league office last week, and weâre not the only ones setting records. Itâs many, many, many teams doing it. By the way, it’s even some teams in the Western Conference that donât get a Messi game.
I just think itâs a general elevation of the sport, something that is really helpful. Obviously for us, being in the Eastern Conference, knew we were going to have a home game against them, and it helps that when you buy the City Membership you know youâre getting the Miami game as part of that.
But people could have just sat around and waited to see if they could have gotten an individual game ticket to that, but they didnât, they jumped in with full seasons. That was huge for us.
This was the second year in a row where our full-season City Membership number will be bigger than it was the year before, therefore adding more new members than we lost, so weâre super proud of that. Like I said in 2023, that was our previous record for the most amount of new members sold, and weâre 40% ahead of that this year, which was a record-breaking year last year, so significant growth from that standpoint.â
HRB: Do you draw any connection to the stadium plan announcement?
Brad Sims: For sure. Itâs all of these elements, itâs the start of I think a perfect storm for us: Between, for us, momentum on the stadium, the leagueâs momentum, youâve got Messi, all these things are contributing factors. When weâre talking to someone and theyâre buying a City Membership, itâs not “I want to get in now because of, and only because of, the stadium in 3 years, I want to make sure I have my place in line,” or “Because of and only because I want to go to the Miami game on September 21 at Yankee Stadium, I donât care about the other six.”
Thatâs not why, I think itâs all these contributing factors together, and itâs “Iâm in soccer, Iâm in MLS, Iâm in New York City FC.”
Itâs starting to happen now, and I think weâre on this trajectory over the next five years. I think weâre in the early end. History will tell us if you looked out decades in the future, youâre going to pick one 10-year span, or even a five-year span, when soccer really took off in this country and also in this market, 2023-2028, 2024-2028.
Between Apple, Messi, Copa America in this country, Club World Cup in this country, FIFA menâs World Cup in this country, potential FIFA womenâs World Cup in this country, New York City FCâs stadium being built, which is obviously the biggest one of all of those. All these things are happening right in this time frame, so itâs a great time to be a soccer fan, or decide to become a soccer fan, and be all-in.
To be a flagship team you have to win
HRB: Last year was one of the most disappointing years in the club in terms of results and performances, does that have an effect on the health of the club, popularity of the club?
Brad Sims: I think no, but Iâll caveat that.
The season was not up to our expectations, we were not pleased with or okay with those results. We expect a lot more. I think that if we have multiple years of that, then there could be a negative impact.
I think thereâs an understanding of the parity in MLS, and that itâs a challenging league. The intricacies of the salary cap, the rules of the league essentially being set up specifically to not allow teams to have long sustained runs of success, I think thereâs an understanding of that.
I feel like we knew that, going through having a team refresh and changeover after the 2022 season, it was probably not realistic to solve that in one window. It really took us three windows â last winter, last summer, this winter â to have a team now where we say, weâve got talent, weâve got youth, weâve got this runway. Itâs not too dissimilar to some of the windows in 2018 and 2019 with this club that helped get a core group together that moved forward and grew together and ultimately was a championship team.
Weâre really excited about the group that we have now, and we think this is a group that is going to be able to grow together and they can compete this year and will compete this year, but is also set up to have a sustained run the next three, four-plus years. With kind of a core group we have now.
Going back to the question about fan sentiment. Our ultimate goal is, we want to grow this club, we want to grow this fanbase. We want this club to be a big, big, big club, we have big dreams, our mission is to help build New York City into one of the soccer capitals of the world. Some people would argue it already is, but I think having a flagship stadium, being a flagship team of the major league in this country will be one of those things that will allow us to do that, but you also have to win, ultimately.
Different teams can have different identities. The Galaxy, a team that kept picking up aging superstars almost like the brand promise to their fans: This is our identity this is what we do, once one of them leaves itâs incumbent on getting the next one. Miami might end up becoming that formula as well, you know, with the kind of expectations theyâre setting now.
I think, for us, our identity really over the last five, six years or so: Get exciting young players, see them develop, see groups come together and win. Be a consistent winner.
I think in this marketplace, that will resonate with people. In the long-term, to grow a fanbase, people want to be associated with a winner. It’s probably okay to have an off year once every five, six, seven years. It’s probably not okay if off years become the norm instead of the exception. For us, thatâs not acceptable.
That would have a negative impact on our current fanbase and our ability to grow our fans over time, so, the plan is to be a competitive championship-caliber team, as consistently as we can.
Itâs tricky and challenging with the MLS roster rules, but we feel great about the work thatâs been done over the last three windows. Tons of credit to Dave Lee and his team and all the support we get at CFG to be able to pull the trigger and add some pretty significant talent to the roster.
HRB: You mentioned wanting to turn the team into a flagship, and have previously mentioned other longer-term plans around areas you were looking to get the club into, like womenâs soccer. The stadium is likely priority one right now, but how does the focus shift, now that the stadium is getting closer, whatâs next on the horizon as the next thing you could pursue?
Brad Sims: âStadium is priority one, two, three, four. That is by far the most important thing for the health of this club long-term. But, once weâre able to make that a reality, we want to have it be a vibrant building. Weâve been on record and spoken before that womenâs football is something weâd like to make happen, weâve been working on that over the last year, itâs very important to us, something we want to make it happen in one way, shape or form. Itâs not only about one personâs desire, thereâs always multiple parties that have to all be aligned to make that happen.â
Hopeful the stadium will open in 2027 with a men’s and women’s team
HRB: Does the launch of the USLâs new womenâs league have any influence on what you guys are doing, how does that effect plans you have for getting into the womenâs game, now that there will be a team in Brooklyn in USL Super League and Gotham at Red Bull Arena?
Brad Sims: I would say, generally speaking, we are pro-football, menâs football, womenâs football, any teams that want to come into the market, Iâm not worried about being territorial about markets. We get calls from the league office when they have prospective ownerships for MLS NEXT Pro markets in the greater New York area and itâs like, bring it on, weâll be supportive, maybe weâll have some rivalries maybeâŚ
HRB: Bridgeport?
Brad Sims: Yes. But half-a-dozen others that are in the works that I get calls about all the time, and itâs almost like, “Do you mind?” And itâs, “No I donât mind, Iâm in favor of it â do you want me to talk to the prospective ownership group? I can tell them that they should do it and invest, letâs go.”
This goes back to rising tide. The more people interested in football, in my opinion whether itâs in this marketplace or this country, the better. Some of these teams are hyper-local.
I donât know much about the USL womenâs Super League, I donât know any of the owners or any of that, but, you know, I hope everyoneâs successful, because I think that if everyone in football, menâs womenâs is successful, then ultimately that means weâre going to be even more successful at New York City FC.
So, thereâs a lot of different paths we could go down. Weâve looked at them and are trying to figure out how to make it work, I donât know what timeline is, I would hope that generally it would be, we would love to have some kind of certainty before 2027, not a last-minute thing you want to do, because thereâs ways where maybe youâd design your building a little bit differently, things you want to do on the front-end if you know that weâll have a full-time womenâs team in the building.
There are ways that you would want to go to market with stadium partnership packages and suites and premium seating, maybe you want to have an all-event type option. On the front end, thereâs some advantages if you have things earlier than later.
Ultimately itâs not only up to us. How these things go, there are really two paths: Either get an expansion team, of which my understanding is there are dozens of potential owners and markets all over the country interested. Or to look at an existing team, and thereâs only 14 of those, 16 of those soon.
So those are the only options, then you have to make sure youâre successful in that process, but not totally on us to do that. We have the desire, ambition, and Iâm hopeful that when we open in 2027, that weâll be opening with a menâs team and a womenâs team.
Pro-pigeon? Or anti-pigeon?
HRB: First stadium renderings released, you guys had a pigeon prominently on the supportersâ entrance on the side of the stadium. Know there were talks with supporters, surveys of season-ticket holders in the early stages of design, about things people wanted or didnât want in the stadium. So what features will you be able to point to when the stadium opens, that would be a direct result of our efforts to reach out? Also, with you guys announcing your branding changes and seeming to expand the iconography and visuals of the team, what is the stance on the pigeon as an icon of the team?
Brad Sims: âThereâs a lot there, but ultimately, thatâs just set up, âam I pro- or anti- pigeon?ââ [laughter]
HRB: Thatâs part of itâhow far will the rebrand go?
Brad Sims: Weâve had a lot of ongoing conversations with supporters throughout the whole design process, every three, four months, over the last year and a half probably. We also did extensive fan focus groups, supporters in other groups, even non-fans, sports fans at other stadiums of other teams, “How do we attract new fans?”
We did a huge feasibility study in 2022, then we did another follow-up in 2023, then did another process as part of this brand refresh, thatâs something weâve been working on for 15 to 18 months. It’s really through the lens of, how do we attract new fans without alienating current fans? How do we find something that our current fans will be excited about, but that will lend itself better to help us attract new fans and to grow the club.
When the rendering came out with the pigeon and the lightning bolt, the day before it was going to come out, there was all this internal “We canât really show that, can we?” Because we hadnât decided on it.
One of the designers made it and they thought it was cool. “People will freak out!” Iâm like, “Well, maybe we want to get a reaction on it, see what people think of this.” I personally fought hard to leave it in there, to see what would happen. And people had opinions. There were some who thought it was the coolest thing theyâd ever seen, some people were freaking out because, you know, how could we put a pigeon on the actual building?
We have four or five statement walls in the stadium. Weâre working through a process of, “What are we putting on them?” We want to have them each be dedicated to some specific theme. One is fans and supporters, one is the city, one is the game, all these different themes for each of them. But we havenât finalized any of them, and weâll end up getting more feedback I think, luckily thatâs one of the things that can be done later in the process.
But as it pertains to the pigeon, I donât know that weâre ever going to get a consensus. I think pro-pigeon, anti-pigeon feelings with our fanbase is like 51%-49%, or 53%-47%, or 55%-45% one way or another, and Iâm not sure which way it is, and I donât know that amongst our hardcore fans, that thatâs ever going to wildly change to like three-quarters in favor or one-quarter against or vice-versa.
So thatâs a long, roundabout way of saying, I have no idea, and Iâm actually scared to go on record by saying if Iâm pro-pigeon or anti-pigeon, because Iâll alienate half of our fans.
Yankees, Mets are good partners
HRB: Youâve played at Yankee Stadium for years, now moving to Queens permanently, youâve been playing more home games at Citi Field. Will the schedule continue to shift to be more Citi Field-centric as the new stadium gets closer? How does the relationship with the Yankees evolve, now that youâre moving away fully by 2027? And what is the working relationship like with the Mets, knowing your tenants, future neighbors, and also still negotiating over use of Citi Field parking lots on match days?
Brad Sims: As it pertains to Yankees ownership, theyâre super supportive, they bought into the growth of the league. We went really far down a path in the Bronx of trying to get a stadium done, that we thought was happening and was going to happen. Would the Yankees prefer us to be right across the street? Probably, but had zero pushback when the Queens opportunity came, in fact said “Letâs go, letâs do it,” because they know having our own stadium is a game-changer for the club, will raise the value of the club, will raise all the business metrics.
Theyâre in it for the long haul, theyâre with us in Queens, and I donât think they are ever going to let go of their part of New York City FC. They might, I could be wrong, but theyâve been super supportive. Iâm on calls with Randy Levine and Lonn Trost at least once a week, more than once a week, super helpful with whatever can be done, so theyâre in it big-time for sure.
In terms of Yankee Stadium-Citi Field split, our roots are in the Bronx and Yankee Stadium. I think popular belief is, oh weâre going to Queens so letâs start moving more and more games to Queens, weâre not planning to do that. The split you see this year, 10 Yankee 6 Citi then October and beyond TBD, I think youâll see a similar split in 2025 and 2026.
The Mets have been great partners, hasnât been awkward at all, we are negotiating on the stadium part. Theyâve been very professional at keeping those things separate, the people we work with on the Mets, our key point people are fantastic to work with. Our experience as a tenant there almost couldnât be better, weâre super appreciative of our relationship with them.
On the negotiation side, weâve had a memo of understanding thatâs been done, weâre pretty much in agreement on pretty much everything, thereâs been work towards translating from a MOU to a long-form legally binding contract, we continue to make progress on that, not quite there yet but hopefully very soon it will be done. Theyâve been great to work with and great partners.
