New York City FC just announced that all three of the club's 2026 Leagues Cup Phase One games will be held at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, NJ.
NYCFC will face Santos Laguna on Thursday, August 6; Cruz Azul on Sunday, August 9; and Club Necaxa on Thursday, August 13.
Sports Illustrated Stadium (formerly Red Bull Arena) is New York City's unpopular home-away-from-home-away-from-home, a third-choice venue the club is forced to book when neither Yankee Stadium nor Citi Field is available.
With NYCFC set to move into Etihad Park at the start of the 2027/28 season, the team presumably will soon be able to play all home games at the club's true home. But until then, the New York City faithful will need to cross state lines a few times each year to watch their team play.
To be fair, these are the first home games NYCFC have scheduled at Sports Illustrated Stadium this year. (Two league games set to be played in late October have yet to be assigned a venue, as the front office will need to wait to see if the Yankees or Mets make the Major League Baseball postseason.) And it's not unusual to play Leagues Cup games on the other side of the Hudson: In 2025, New York City played two of three Phase One matches in New Jersey.
In 2024, NYCFC played three home games in New Jersey: Two league games and one Leagues Cup game. It was a repeat of 2023, when NYCFC also played two league games and one Leagues Cup game in New Jersey. (That year, New York City also played Red Bull New York in New Jersey in Leagues Cup competition, but as the away team.) In 2022, NYCFC played four home games total in New Jersey, three league games plus the CONCACAF Champions League Semifinal draw with Seattle Sounders.
Hudson River Blue Staff
