New York City FC head coach Pascal Jansen on Friday expressed hope that the World Cup will draw in new fans to the MLS club, a day before NYCFC play its first home match since the tournament ended.
It’s a hope that extends from NYCFC executives to those across the Hudson River in the front office of Red Bull New York to the league office in midtown Manhattan.
Saturday will be the first litmus test for all involved as the “world’s game” returns to the metropolitan area with both NYCFC and the Red Bulls in action.
“Having the World Cup here in the U.S. and in Canada and Mexico, hopefully will give this game [against Chicago Fire] another boost,” Jansen said following the team’s training on Friday in Rockland County. “Seeing new fans getting hooked up and enjoying this game is something that will come of it. The people who haven’t been to the New York City games is something that I’m looking forward to, so hopefully the World Cup has inspired a lot of people to come and watch more football.”
New York City FC spent significant time trying to extend olive branches to area soccer fans during the run of the World Cup, having a presence at various watch parties and events around the city.
The club set up what it called the “City Corner” at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which hosted official watch parties during the group stage of the World Cup in order to expose potential new fans to their brand and show off the club’s new stadium being built in Queens next door to Citi Field.
Club data provided to The Post indicated that their efforts have paid dividends and that NYCFC saw a 254 percent increase in ticket sales when comparing the 40 days before the start of the World Cup with the 40 days during and following the tournament.
A club spokesperson also said that ticket sales for Saturday’s match in The Bronx were up 35 percent — roughly 6,000 more tickets sold — versus “the comparable game last year.”
Saturday’s match will be former Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski’s second match since moving to MLS earlier this month and it will be New York fans’ first time seeing U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Matt Freese since the World Cup ended, both of which could be helping ticket sales.
The Red Bulls are also expecting a bump on Saturday when they host Charlotte FC, though the club did not provide any ticket data, through a deal allowing first-time fans to see a match at Sports Illustrated Stadium for free.
“Within one month, all those tickets have been claimed, with many of them choosing to come out to Saturday’s match vs. Charlotte FC,” a team spokesperson told The Post.
