NYCFC CEO Brad Sims talks personnel decisions, City Football Group, Manchester City and the Yankees

The exodus of key players from New York City FC since its MLS Cup victory in 2021 has left the club in a tricky situation on the field.

For NYCFC chief executive Brad Sims, that’s a byproduct of running his team the way he believes is right.

In an interview ahead of the club’s City in the Community charity homecoming gala on Tuesday, Sims acknowledged the challenge NYCFC faces after facilitating moves for several stars in the 15 months since the club’s first championship but remains confident in the team's strategies and its relationship with parent organization City Football Group.

The CEO said the club focuses on balancing three fronts when making personnel decisions: the team’s on-field goals, the players’ ambition for their futures and the organization’s own monetary interests.

“From my standpoint, as it pertains to the player piece, is how do you thread the needle?” Sims said. “We want to be a winner year in and year out, we want to be competing for trophies and be that consistent, winning team. I would add for us, doing right by the player and helping the player achieve their dreams and their goals, which we care about and actually take into consideration. And the third piece which is also doing it in a fiscally responsible way.”

Sims highlighted James Sands, NYCFC’s first homegrown player, as a case of accommodating the individual. The Rye native signed a new deal with the club in 2021, but made clear he’d like to try his hand in Europe should he play well enough to garner attention. A stellar season by Sands helped guide City to the championship, and the club orchestrated a move to Scotland’s Rangers.

“We said, ‘all right man, where do you want to go? Let us help you,’” Sims said.

On Wednesday, Sands returned to NYCFC and signed a contract extension through 2027.

“NYCFC has had a tremendous impact on my development,” Sands said in a news release. “The club's support of my initial step in Europe and continued understanding of my career goals has been very important to me.”

NYCFC exists within Abu Dhabi-funded City Football Group, partnering with CFG-owned clubs from top leagues around the world. Sims believes that relationship has remained a net positive for NYCFC over the years, the international network being a valuable selling point for potential players looking to eventually join the world’s top leagues. Still, the club saw Valentín Castellanos and Alex Callens say goodbye for opportunities with Spanish sister club Girona FC, while Santiago Rodriguez remains in limbo after his loan with Uruguayan sister club Montevideo City Torque expired following last season.

“Obviously that makes us, in the short term, worse off on the pitch, but it’s the right thing for them,” Sims said. “Every situation is different regarding why players might depart or might come back, but in the grand scheme of things, the benefit that we get from City Football Group in terms of the global scouting network and everything that we have at our disposal to find players that, frankly, I don’t think other teams are able to find, and finding them with the right values, that far outweighs anything that we would feel in the moment.”

The CFG affiliation of course includes the group’s most prominent club and namesake, Manchester City FC, which currently is under investigation by the English Premier League for allegedly breaking various financial rules over several years. Sims doesn’t believe that situation will impact the MLS club.

“Right now, I’d say I don’t see any spillover or anything like that for us. It’s been 100% business as usual,” Sims said. “Man City is a sister club, not a parent club, so it’s a little different. For me, it’s something I pay attention to, but in terms of trickle down on anything of how we operate the club, it’s been complete business as usual.”

As for NYCFC’s other ownership partner? According to Sims, the Yankees remain committed to the MLS club, even as NYCFC plans to build a soccer-specific stadium beside Citi Field in Queens, which came together after a previous plan to build near Yankee Stadium fizzled.

“I was wondering when we were starting pivot and we started looking at places outside the Bronx what the Yankees would think about that, and they were 100% supportive from the beginning with zero hesitancy,” Sims said. “They support this club, they want to be part of this club long term. People have asked are the Yankees going to get out now that it’s Queens, as far as I know, as far as they’ve shared with me, there’s zero intention. They see the value of the club, they want to be in it. They know that this is something we need as a club to ultimately see the full potential of the club, and it’s a fantastic project overall for the community.”