NYCFC, the Red Bulls and The Island FC hope to capitalize on World Cup momentum
From left: Red Bulls supporters during an MLS match against the New England Revolution on Feb. 28, 2026, in Harrison, N.J., and NYCFC supporters during an MLS match against Inter Miami on March 22, 2026, at Yankee Stadium. Credit: Getty Images/Adam Hunger; Sarah Stier
As the seconds dwindled in the U.S. men’s team’s final World Cup game — a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16 on July 6 — Fox Sports play-by-play commentator John Strong emphasized for viewers that “this doesn’t have to be the last soccer you watch for the next four years.”
The World Cup ends Sunday at MetLife Stadium with an epic final between reigning Cup champion Argentina, led by arguably the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi, and reigning European champion Spain, featuring 19-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal.
After Sunday, Strong’s plea truly will be put to the test.
The local pro teams — Major League Soccer’s NYCFC and the Red Bulls, as well as MLS Next Pro’s The Island FC, the new Long Island-based club that will debut in MLS’ official professional development league in early 2027, are doing their best to make sure soccer remains in the minds of sports fans.
NYCFC and the Red Bulls, who both will play their first home games since May on July 25 — NYCFC at Yankee Stadium and the Red Bulls at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey — have been hard at work with different initiatives to build their fan bases and carry the sport’s sky-high momentum into the rest of the MLS season.
“[The] World Cup has been an extraordinary opportunity for us,” Red Bulls chief marketing officer Katie Nahoum told Newsday. “It happened right here in our backyard. We anticipated millions of fans coming into our area, and as a result, we’ve been able to reach tens of thousands of folks who came out to our official events. Sixty-five percent of them were actually new to the club, so we’ve really been able to evangelize our base but also expand it, and we’re prepared to welcome them home to the stadium.”
At Sports Illustrated Stadium, the Red Bulls hosted FIFA’s official New Jersey fan hub, which Nahoum said included more than 20 days of events with tens of thousands of people attending. NYCFC also had a major presence at FIFA’s official Queens group stage HQ at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens — right next to Citi Field and NYCFC’s future home stadium, Etihad Park, which will open in July 2027.
NYCFC vice president of marketing Lauren Scrima told Newsday that the franchise focused on three pillars in building on the World Cup’s success.
The first involved the club’s three players who played in the World Cup — U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese, Australian midfielder Aiden O’Neill and Australian defender Kai Trewin — and turning their games into “almost our own sort of match day” with plenty of content.
She labeled the second pillar as “culture,” which really is “tapping into the biggest and most exciting moments, and most authentic, happening in the city,” including the HQ in Queens.
She described the third pillar as “legacy through our community organization,” City in the Community, which built mini-soccer pitches across the five boroughs for youngsters to utilize.
Scrima agreed with the notion that the World Cup happening a year before their new stadium opening was perfect timing.
“The World Cup is always going to provide a big surge in fandom for soccer as a sport,” she said. “But to do that a year out from opening the stadium is just phenomenal because this is really the time when we want to get on everybody’s radar.
“We want to remind them that even though the World Cup is ending in a few days that we are here to stay and that they can still get a really awesome experience in person with us at our new stadium.”
Scrima also thinks the move to Etihad Park puts soccer fans of Long Island, which she thinks is an area that “had been [untapped] previously,” at the forefront of NYCFC’s efforts.
Twenty-two MLS clubs are participating in the league’s “First Match On Us” initiative, providing free tickets to first-time fans. Scrima said NYCFC started offering the promotion last year, supplying two tickets to fans who were not yet in the team’s email database.
The Red Bulls also were part of the First Match On Us initiative. Nahoum said they have given away more than 5,000 tickets to new fans. The team didn’t have any players in the World Cup, but Nahoum said the MLS-record 45 players on World Cup rosters “elevates the entire league.” The Red Bulls do have a couple of Long Islanders, Dylan Nealis (Massapequa) and Tim Parker (Hicksville).
Then there’s The Island FC, which will debut in a new modular stadium at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale in early 2027. They didn’t miss out on the World Cup craze, either.
The Island FC hosted three watch parties in partnership with Nassau County and had thousands of fans at each one. Travis Lamprecht, the club’s president of business operations, recognized that the team is “flying under the radar still” but said the watch parties were a success in terms of taking season-ticket deposits, selling merchandise and getting newsletter sign-ups.
“The World Cup is every four years, but we’re going to be every year,” Lamprecht said. “So we’re hoping that Long Islanders rally around us as we kick off next year and beyond that.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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