Matchday 25: New York City vs Nashville in The Bronx

Major League Soccer is back for New York City FC as the club returns to league play for the first time in a little over three weeks, hosting Nashville SC at Yankee Stadium on Matchday 25 in the rare Sunday evening game played at the genie hour of 5 pm ET.

Three Leagues Cup matches came and went in the time since New York City visited FC Dallas and won in their last regular-season match. The club had an 11-day wait between matches after bowing out of Leagues Cup against Deportivo Toluca FC on this same Yankee Soccer Stadium field. That big break in competitive games was due to the soccer field at Citi Field in Queens being deemed unplayable by the New York Mets.

Speaking of baseball teams, it's the first-ever Yankees Night in club history. A special limited-run crossover New York Yankees x New York City FC hat by New Era will be available at the stadium, which sounds nifty. But it's hard to shake the question: Why now? This will be NYCFC's 142nd game at the House that Ruth Built — and that Rudy Giuliani rebuilt across the street. Isn't every one of those games a Yankees Night?

New York City FC does ‘Yankees Night’

An attempt to understand why, beyond a new piece of crossover merch, NYCFC is celebrating their part-owners the New York Yankees during the Nashville match.

Hudson River BlueAndrew Leigh

New York City vs Nashville H2H