Brand of the Day: New York City FC
Welcome to Brand of the Day, where we pick the brand making headlines and explain what you need to know about why it's in the news.
The newest team in Major League Soccer, New York City FC, have signed yet another big named star this week in the form of Italian talisman Andrea Pirlo. The 36 year-old Juventus and Italy midfielder will join Man City’s Frank Lampard and former Barcelona striker David Villa at the Eastern Conference club on 21 July.
Out of the 20 teams competing in the MLS, New York City FC are currently sitting in 16th position in the league standings with their city rivals New York Red Bulls three points ahead.
The new club have been subjected to widespread criticism since their establishment form both fans and football analysts. The signing of Frank Lampard was one of the most controversial because the England midfielder was supposed to have joined the team at the beginning of their season in March however part owners Manchester City decided to extend his loan spell at Manchester City, meaning their star signing has missed the majority of the season.
Here’s more on the New York City FC brand.
Former captain of the US national team, Claudio Reyna, is the club's director of football and its first employee. During his career Renya played for Manchester City as well as NYC FC’s rivals New York Red Bulls.
The club is owned by a joint partnership with Manchester City Football Club and the New York Yankees. Manchester City is the majority owner of the club and the Yankees has a minority stake as an investor and is an active member of the ownership group.
The franchise cost a reported $100m (£66m) to join the MLS, which is around a third of the market value of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
The badge was designed by New York-based artist Rafael Esquer and was inspired by the old New York City subway token. Fans were given the option to vote between two of Esquer’s designs as well as submitting their own designs which would appear in the club badge mosaic.
While the club have a three year agreement with their part owners, the Yankees, they have still to find a location to build their own stadium. After numerous location’s being touted, Northern Manhattan is the most recent suggestion and would involve a newly built 25,000 seater stadium costing $400m which would be shared with Columbia University’s football team.
43,507 at Yankee Stadium for #NYCFC's Historic Home Opener pic.twitter.com/7lEVIvAZ50
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) March 16, 2015