NYC FC To Play Home MLS Matches At Yankee Stadium For First Three Seasons Starting In 2015

Set to begin its inaugural season in 2015, New York City FC -- who will become the 20th club to participate in Major League Soccer -- will play home matches at Yankee Stadium for the team's first three years in the league. Jointly owned by the New York Yankees and Barclays Premier League affiliate Manchester City, NYC FC higher-ups are expected to make the official announcement some time next week, bringing an end to a long period of discussions as to where the MLS club would play its home games.

Thanks to a $100 million investment from Man City and the New York Yankees, New York City FC was able to join a league that continues to grow in popularity on a yearly basis. While it was believed that the new Yankee Stadium -- which opened in 2009 following the closing of the original ballpark, which was in operation from 1923 to 2008 -- the approaching announcement that this venue will become the new home of a full-time soccer club will be a great moment for all those involved. Though baseball will obviously remain the No. 1 priority at Yankee Stadium, latest technologies will allow for the quick installment of the turf playing surface the team plans to use while in action.

“Technology has gotten to the point where I think we can turn it around pretty quickly," Mark Holtzman, the Yankees' executive director of non-baseball events, said to the New York Times this week. "Baseball is clearly the No. 1 priority," he said in the report. "We wouldn't do anything to put anyone at any risk; there's a major investment here in the players. At the end of the day, we look at these opportunities very carefully, and we wouldn't get into these opportunities unless we were confident in the end result.”

Set to begin their duties as a Major League Soccer affiliate, NYC FC will surely have growing support across the international landscape of soccer, especially in their own backyard. With one of the most passionate fan bases in sports already present, New York Yankees owner and managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said that he's pleased to bring a new team into the already popular New York market.

“We are pleased to be associated with this major move by MLS to increase its presence in the New York market and to enhance the opportunity for New York soccer fans to enjoy high-level play in their own city,” he said. “We look forward to the opportunity to work with Manchester City to create something very special for the soccer fans of New York -- and to bringing another terrific team to this city for all sports fans to enjoy.”