The motivation behind Gotham FCs move to Queens: Elevate our team

Gotham FC is moving to the big city — from New Jersey to Queens, where starting in 2028, the reigning NWSL champion will play home games at New York City FC’s soon-to-be-opened Etihad Park.But the move to New York City’s first soccer-specific stadium, officially announced Tuesday at a City Hall set piece with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov.Kathy Hochul, is more than your typical tale of growing up and nabbing a residence in a shiny new development.

To the team’s stewards, it represents something bigger and more global.“We set a vision to be one of the best teams in the world, and to be one of the best teams in the world, you have to play in world-class venues,” Gotham owner Carolyn Tisch Blodgett told The Post.“It felt like this was the place to elevate our team to the next level.”Etihad Park, the 25,000-seat, roughly $1 billion project near Citi Field in Willets Point that is set to open in 2027 for its MLS occupants, “matches Gotham FC’s standard of excellence,” Mamdani said.Gotham will start on a five-year lease with options to extend it up to 15 years, per a team spokesperson.Gotham has played at Sports Illustrated Stadium, formerly known as Red Bull Arena, in Harrison, N.J., since 2021, and will remain there through the 2027 season.The upgrades at Etihad Park? Gotham will have a dedicated locker room for the first time.

With the stadium’s all-digital signage, “on game day, it will truly feel like a Gotham home — it will be completely branded,” Tisch Blodgett said.There will also be better food and drink options.

And new constituencies.“Our ability to create that kind of atmosphere on game day that gives us a true home-field advantage where other teams hate coming to play against us and we have our crowd packed out all rowdy, I think is really exciting,” president of soccer operations Yael Averbuch West told The Post.Gotham averaged 8,892 fans in 2025, which ranked eighth of 14 NWSL teams.This season, it’s 8,148 (12th of 16)...