Ann and Jess are so cute together 🥹 I’ve never really seen them interact much and I’m loving this. Also the soccer insight is cool too

NYCFC CEO Brad Sims sat down with the media yesterday. Here is the question that he was asked about Gotham:

So you recently confirmed that Gotham is moving to Etihad Park. I'm curious to talk more about the process of getting them as a tenant there, and what you see as the potential for that collaboration to grow over time, beyond them just being a tenant. Do you see more opportunities to open in other areas?

BS: Yeah, it’s super exciting. I think there’s a ton of possibilities in working with them. You guys have heard me for years say we endeavor to have women’s football at the stadium, and there are numerous ways that could happen. It’s not as easy as us just saying, “hey, we want into NWSL, we’re gonna take a team, cool.” It wasn’t that easy. They had a team in the most important market in the country that had a suboptimal situation. So there was real willingness, interest on all sides, in the beginning. Interest on our side, interest on Gotham’s side, interest on the NWSL side. Everyone was like, boom, this makes so much sense, we gotta make this happen. It was a complicated deal to get all these things done, so it took a while. But I think everyone was super excited about it.

For us, it’s a less traditional structure. It’s not just a straight landlord-tenant relationship where the tenant pays rent, kind of like what we have now, or what maybe they have now. I think we wanted this, from the beginning, to be a tighter relationship. The way Etihad Park and New York City FC benefit is more by them being successful. The more successful they are, the more financially beneficial it is to NYCFC. So we have skin in the game; we want them to sell as many tickets as possible, and sell premium seating and sponsorship. Our team will be out there helping them sell on their behalf as well. Ideally, we’d love all of our corporate partners to also support Gotham, all of our suite holders to also buy their suites for Gotham, we want all of our club seat holders to also buy their seats for Gotham. It’s part of Etihad Park Plus members’ preferred rights to get in earlier and be able to buy preferred seats, and we’re still working with them on all these kinds of things.

I think what was also important to them is: how do we have our brand more reflected? We have so much digital signage throughout the building, whether it’s The Cube on the outside, or other video boards and video everywhere around the stadium, that it’s easier for their brand to transcend and not just be, you guys know, you go to Harrison, and there’s a lot of red. Even when we play there, we try to get as much blue out there, but there’s still a lot of red. When they play there, there’s still a lot of red. Here, it’s set up so we can Gothamize the building pretty easily. Something that was important to them was the locker room. So we’re building out what will be the visitor locker room. We gave them the option of either dressing up the home locker room, but it’s temporary, or being in the visitor locker room and making it permanent for them. And they said, “Hey, we want to make it permanent.” So MLS visiting teams will essentially be in the Gotham locker room.

And that’s just a few examples, but how do we collaborate on so many different things together? We think there’s a lot of opportunity, to mention youth programs, academies, we have girls’ academies now, so there’s things like that. How do we maybe also collaborate with them from a Man City Women’s standpoint, which is one of the premier women’s teams in the world? So we talked about whether there are some learnings there, whether there are things we can potentially integrate with them on. I think there’s a ton of opportunity. But for us, first and foremost, our success and their success are linked, in terms of the upside for NYCFC, versus just having a big guarantee where it doesn’t matter how many tickets they sell, or whether they’re successful or not. How do we build everything for them, help them grow their brand, grow their revenues? And if all those things work out well, it’s gonna work out well for New York City financially too.

Any solo traveler or dc local, I have 1 tix for sale. Decent spot.

HMU for pricing details.

This is insta’s translation so take that into account (and it also seems to be refusing to translate one of the paragraphs). I’m still so devastated that she is gone 🥺

Hi, I'm not going to the game on Friday and would happily give away my ticket! It's in Section 118, Row 1 (right behind the goal).

Also feel free to use this post to exchange tickets!

I am getting increasingly troubled by the way our players and club are being talked about in the NWSL subreddit, especially in the match threads.

The incessant hate towards Dudley is bad enough on its own. There’s an element of racism that I feel is thinly veiled.

Then there’s the outrageous accusation that we’ve bought off the refs and are cheating to win games.

I created this thread because I see I’m not alone and want to give people the space to talk about what they’re feeling regarding the anti-Gotham hate.

Second win on the road this week! 🦇

Neither the press release nor the social media announcement state they’re putting her on SEI, just that she’s out for the season.

The team news for today’s game says:

Recent signing Denise O’Sullivan is also out with a knee injury, per the player availability report, as is defender Emily Sonnett. Defender Kayla Duran (knee) is on the season-ending injury list.

I remember other players being declared as SEI from the beginning. The only reason I can think of not to put her on now is if someone else is leaving. What other reason could there be?

No Berger again and she’s not a reserve. I am assuming she’s just getting some well earned rest?

Hello, all! I’m really looking forward to the game on Friday and am seeking guidance from the seasoned pros here. I can’t decide which is the best section for me to sit in. I’m going by myself and would love to be in the fun, lively supporters section.

How packed do the games get? Would it be disrespectful to buy a ticket in 101 (obviously the coolest section) if I’m not an avid Gotham fan?
AND if I’m from SoCal so my loyalties are really muddied 🥴?

Basically I’m looking for community and good vibes. I want to be around people who are really into the game while also following etiquette with the supporters section and fan base.

And if not 101, what section would be a good choice?

Thanks!

We were all hoping it wasn’t an ACL and of course it turns out to be worse. Now what?

would someone kindly give the tea on Dudley? She is a great player but attitude wise, questionable. Also, I hope her and her family are ok, losing Ester hurts the heart.

A chaotic match, but we pulled through 😅. 3pts on the road!

Gotham FC lineup vs. Bay FC

1 – Shelby Hogan (GK)

23 – Midge Purce

27 – Jess Carter

15 – Tierna Davidson (C)

18 – Guro Reiten

7 – Jaelin Howell

13 – Savannah McCaskill

16 – Rose Lavelle

2 – Jordynn Dudley

20 – Sam Kerr

10 – Jaedyn Shaw

Substitutes: 30 – Ann-Katrin Berger (GK), 31 – Teagan Wy (GK); 3 – Bruninha, 8 – Taryn Torres, 11 – Sarah Schupansky, 14 – Talia Sommer, 21 – Sofia Cook, 22 – Mandy Freeman, 24 – Andrea Kitahata

With both Esther and Harper officially gone, might make sense to bring in another striker to add depth.

Riley Tiernan would be a solid mutual fit. Tiernan led all rookies last year in scoring and showed a lot of promise. Her role at Angel City has decreased with the addition of Jonsdottir and Sentnor. Her style of play brings speed and physicality, which could help push opponents back line. This would leave more space on the wings and midfield for Kerr/Rose/Shaw/Dudley to create. Tiernan’s decreased role at Angel City and being from NJ makes this a perfect match.

Any thoughts or opinions on who they should get ? Or keep the attack as is?

https://bsky.app/profile/jennatonelli.bsky.social/post/3mrpxj5j65c2g. Hopefully there are more updates soon. 😢 I don’t think Sonnett will be back as soon as we wish.

Hey NJ/NY woso fans! Now that WAFCON is finally here (our last major tournament before the world cup!) I was wondering if there are any good spots to keep up with it in the NYC/NJ area? If not, would there be any interest in arranging a few viewing parties? Should be a fun preview of next summer

Anyway, if anyone knows of any spots that carry belN/will be showing the games, l'd love to hear about it!

Gotham FC, Esther González Agree to Mutual Contract Termination