Behind the MLS Ambition Rankings: New York City FC
• How much money has your team spent in the past five years on youth development? How much in the past year?
New York City FC is deeply invested in developing local youth talent. In our inaugural season, we developed the New York City FC Academy. Under the supervision of Sporting Director, Claudio Reyna, and Youth Technical Coordinator, Rodrigo Marion, the aim of the Academy is to become one of the leading youth talent development centers in the United States. With 11 Youth Affiliate Clubs, the Academy model will accelerate the development pathway of talented youth players in the NYC Metropolitan area by providing first class training to develop young players and help them reach their full potential. With close ties to the City Football Academy in Manchester, home to sister Club, Manchester City FC, the New York City FC Academy further benefits from the technology and resources across the City Football network.
• How many homegrown players have you signed? How many have played in MLS league games for your first team?
Not relevant given the lifespan of the club.
• Who pays to play on your youth teams? And how much do they pay?
No one in our Academy pays to pay.
• How many season-ticket holders do you have? How many did you have in 2015?
At the end of our inaugural season, we had more than 20,000 Founding Members and averaged over 29,000 fans at our home games at Yankee Stadium. The attendance of our home opener was 43,507 and our highest attendance of the season was 48,047 versus the New York Red Bulls.
• Where does your first team train? Did you build the training facility yourself? If so, how much did it cost?
Our first team trains on the campus of SUNY Purchase in Purchase, New York. We will be moving to a more permanent home in the future.
• Do you have a model for integrating your academy with the first team? How closely do your academy teams resemble the way the first team trains and plays?
New York City FC Academy players are schooled by coaches implementing the same style of play used by the New York City FC First Team; the aim is to develop a culture and ethos to inspire New York City FC identity.
Starting with a single team at U-13/14 level, the Academy players are drawn both from New York City FC’s existing Youth Affiliate Clubs and New York City FC hosted Talent Centers, selected based on both talent and character. Training is designed to enhance the players’ existing qualities and offer support in improving technical ability, producing both quality soccer players and rounded individuals, educated in the New York City FC style.
The U-13/14 started competing in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy League in the 2015-16 season. Further age groups will be added to the Academy in the years ahead. New York City’s academy team have recently played in tournaments in Bolivia and Spain.
Throughout the season we have specific days when the academy watches the first team train and then the first team and the academy eat together.
• What’s your philosophy on the use of technology in your training and preparation for matches?
New York City FC believes that technology has a crucial role to play in training and preparation. The club captures a range of data to optimize player performance, increase player efficiency and analyze team performance.
Through a strategic global partnership with SAP, New York City FC and City Football Group are co-innovating on new technological enhancements in the areas of talent management, football performance and human performance.
• Who is your jersey sponsor? What’s your total income on sponsorships this season?
Etihad Airways. We do not disclose partnership investment figures.
• Local TV deal: How many of your games this season are shown on local television? How much is your local TV deal worth per season?
YES is the exclusive regional TV home of New York City Football Club. YES will televise 14 New York City FC, all of which will also be streamed live via the FOX Sports GO app to authenticated YES viewers whose operators have streaming deals with YES (currently Cablevision Optimum, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable).
• Local radio deal: How many of your games this season are broadcast on local radio? In English? In other languages?
All our matches will be broadcast in English on WFAN or WFAN.com. For Spanish listeners, all games will be broadcast on either WADO or WQBU.
• How many front-office employees does your team have? How many have you added or subtracted in the past year?
Currently, we have around 80 front office employees.
• Have you hired any additional technical staff over the past year to reduce doubling-up roles? Are you planning on expanding your technical staff in the near future?
As a recent expansion team New York City FC continuously works to improve the technical and front office staff. There have been a number of additions in the last year.
