New stadium for soccer’s NYCFC to be built next to Mets home
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Red Bulls will play at the new Barclays Centre, which is scheduled to open in 2018.
The club plans to play its first home game there next spring.
The New York Mets will leave Citi Field in 2017.
The Brooklyn Nets will move into the Barclays Center on July 1, opening the new home in early 2018.
Soccer’s New York City franchise will play there in 2021, four or five years after the new arena opens. The club hopes to be the first to play in the brand-new $1 billion arena.
The Red Bulls are trying to attract new sponsors and build a new home base for its marketing in a neighborhood where the MLS team currently plays in Harrison.
The Mets plan to move to a new ballpark just a few blocks away on the East River waterfront.
“This location is exactly what the Red Bull Arena was originally designed for and will accommodate the growing demand for New York City’s most compelling event venue,” Red Bull CEO Dr. Helmut Mark said, “an event destination that is the epitome of contemporary sports.”
Brooklyn is also looking for a new home and wants the Mets to stay, a person familiar with the negotiations said, asking not to be identified discussing private discussions.
The team has been trying to find a new home ever since the stadium in Queens was built in 2012 to replace the old Queensboro Bridge baseball park that was demolished in 2010.
The new ballpark will be part of a mixed bag of new developments around the ballpark, including a residential tower, residential condominiums, a hotel and a 1,650-space parking garage.
The building will also contain a three-story atrium where food and product vendors would be placed. The Red Bulls will be one of the tenants at the atrium.
The new soccer stadium will be located along the West Side, on the