From our friends at TiqIQ:
As the level of popularity in Major League Soccer grows, two more teams will be added to the league beginning in 2015. Next season there will be newteams in Orlando and New York City with the Orlando Football Club and New York City Football Club becoming the 20th and 21st teams in the MLS.
NYCFC will be the second team in the New York area along with the New York Red Bulls, a matchup that has all the makings of an epic rivalry. For at least the first season, NYCFC will have their home games in the famous Yankee Stadium, and they have ensured they will have productive (and marketable) players donning their jerseys when play begins. First, they signed Spanish star David Villa, and rumors had been circulating that English stalwart Frank Lampard and fellow Spaniard Xavi would be joining the ranks. Today they made one of those rumors a reality.
The team announced the signing of Frank Lampard in a move from Chelsea FC in London. Lampard comes to NYCFC after playing in England since 1995. Lampard has scored 211 goals for Chelsea and is their all-time leading goal scorer. He is second all time in the Premier league in assists only behind soccer legend Ryan Giggs. Internationally, Lampard has also been capped over 100 times for the England National team and has scored an impressive 29 goals in international competition. He is considered by most to be one of the best midfielders of the 21st century with his supreme passing ability, along with his tremendous consistency.
Lampard will be joining NYCFC on a two-year deal. He is expected to bring with him a great amount of experience and soccer knowledge. In the press conference today Lampard said, “Having seen the vision of this club, I have seen a real long-term plan and I want to be involved and I want to keep on challenging myself.” No one can be sure exactly how long he will play, but the time he does spend in New York will be well worth it.
The Villa and Lampard signings have the city of New York very excited for the 2015 season. NYCFC recently surpassed 3,000 season ticket accounts with about eight months to go before the opening game. The team has rolled out a very simple ticket buying process as fans only need to put down a small deposit on season tickets initially and then get to choose their very own seats during a seat selection process in August. If you consider that the majority of accounts are probably between 2-4 seats, NYCFC probably has an initial season ticket base around 7,000 people. That’s a lot of fans they’ve been able to get on board before their inaugural season.
With another designated player slot to go for the club, chances are their will be at least one more marquee name joining the team, and a lot more fans wanting to see he team play at Yankee Stadium. If you’re interested in being a founding fan of the team, now is the time to do it!
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