NYCFC Forced to Host CCL Match at Red Bull Arena

As if New York City FC's painstaking stadium search wasn't rough enough–though there are reportedly significant advances on that front–it now needs to host a Concacaf Champions League match at the home of its sworn rival.

NYCFC will host the home leg of the CCL round of 16 vs. Costa Rican club San Carlos on Feb. 26 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., the latest in a growing line of displacements due to conflicts with its home venue, Yankee Stadium. 

In the fall, NYCFC was forced to host an MLS playoff match at the New York Mets' Citi Field, where it also played its 2017 regular-season finale. It also played a 2017 regular season game at Rentschler Field in Hartford, Conn. Never before did it need to cross the Hudson River in order to be the home team, yet a search for a temporary home while Yankee Stadium and Citi Field go through their annual winterization process before the new baseball stadium left the club with no other option that Concacaf would approve.

"Due to Yankee Stadium and Citi Field undergoing unavoidable winterization procedures, the club immediately identified numerous other potential venues within the five boroughs while working closely with Concacaf and MLS," NYCFC wrote in a statement. "Ultimately, none of the options the club submitted were approved, leaving Red Bull Arena as the only approved venue within a reasonable distance of New York City."

In an effort to woo fans across state lines "given the inconvenience of playing outside of the five boroughs," NYCFC is offering free tickets to its 2020 City Members, with one free ticket for each full season seat on a member's account.

Should NYCFC advance, it's expected that either Yankee Stadium or Citi Field would be the host venue. Regardless, the new development is surely to remain at the heart of banter between fan bases.