Man City, New York Yankees Acquire MLS Team

Manchester City Football Club, in partnership with the New York Yankees, has acquired Major League Soccer’s 20th expansion club. The new team will be named New York City Football Club and expects to begin play in 2015. It will join the New York Red Bulls as the second MLS team in the New York market.

“We proudly welcome two of the most prestigious professional global sports organizations to Major League Soccer,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “This is a transformational development that will elevate the league to new heights in this country. The New York area is home to more than 19 million people and we look forward to an intense crosstown rivalry between New York City Football Club and the New York Red Bulls that will captivate this great city.”

“New York is a legendary sports town, as well as a thriving global city with a rapidly expanding soccer fan-base,” said Ferran Soriano, CEO of Manchester City Football Club, who will oversee the process of hiring the team’s leadership positions in the weeks to come.

Manchester City will be the majority owner of the new team, with the Yankees serving as an active member of the ownership group.

The team will now work on locating an interim home stadium while it negotiates for a permanent stadium somewhere in the New York City area. MLS has already been in discussion with the city of New York about a possible stadium location in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens.

In a statement, the new club said it will continue those discussions, but would review other potential sites as well.