2017 Schedule Thread

[mgarbowski]

One last note from me on the issue of who to play 3x annually. It is a moot issue once the league adds just 2 more teams. At that point you can play the other 11 teams in your conference twice (11 x 2=22) and the 12 teams in the other conference once (12).
22+12=34

Maybe that means you maximize the Hudson Derby games while you can. Or maybe the teams behind on number of times hosting us insist on getting them in before it ends.

The league can and probably will go to divisions, especially when expansion goes even further, but I will be surprised if they make teams play 3x within the division and 1x to teams in the conference but other division. OTOH it's not like MLS doesn't do whatever the hell it wants.

 

[Gotham Gator]

One last note from me on the issue of who to play 3x annually. It is a moot issue once the league adds just 2 more teams. At that point you can play the other 11 teams in your conference twice (11 x 2=22) and the 12 teams in the other conference once (12).
22+12=34

Exactly. Assuming Miami gets its act together, or someone else takes its place alongside LAFC in 2018, the 3-games a year setup is on hold after one more season.

 

[Gotham Gator]

Okay, since nobody else has done this, here goes an attempt to figure out when our home games might be played.

Here are the possible windows for when we could play at home, based on the Yankees schedule and assuming a 48-hour turnaround time. It also assumes Opening Day on March 5 and Decision Sunday on Oct 22.

Sun, Mar 5 - Fri, Apr 7 (this covers 5 weekends, plus that last Friday night; includes FIFA international dates Mar 20-28)
Fri, Apr 21 - Tue, April 25
Fri, May 5 - Tue, May 9
Tue, May 17 - Sat, May 20
Wed, May 31 - Sun, Jun 4
Tue, Jun 13 - Sun, Jun 18
Tue, Jun 27 - Sat, Jul 1
Tue, Jul 11 - Sun, Jul 23 (this covers 2 weekends; includes CONCACAF Gold Cup, Jul 7-26)
Fri, Aug 4 - Wed, Aug 9
Thu, Aug 17 - Wed, Aug 23
Tue, Sep 5 - Tue, Sep 12
Fri, Sep 22 - Sun, Sep 24
Tue, Oct 3 - Sun, Oct 22 (subject to Yankee playoff requirements; in the past our October games have been limited to Decision Sunday only; includes FIFA international dates Oct 2-10)

This covers 20 weekends. One weekend is on a FIFA international date, when the league usually runs an abbreviated schedule. Two weekends are during the Gold Cup, when there might be fewer games. Two weekends are during MLB playoffs, when we traditionally haven't played at home (one of which is a FIFA match weekend).

Overall, I think that leads to 17 weekends when there might reasonably be home games, 4 of which are in March and early April. There are also 7 good candidates for midweek games (Wednesday or Thursday) outside the early season.

 

[mgarbowski]

Ugh. Sounds like a good chance there will be an overload for home games at the start of the season again. There seems to be no way to avoid it, yet we did so in 2015.

 

[ManhattanValley]

Ugh. Sounds like a good chance there will be an overload for home games at the start of the season again. There seems to be no way to avoid it, yet we did so in 2015.

If I had the time/talent, I'd look into the impact of those long homestands on attendance. It was a lot of fun for the hardcore fans, but it must have been brutal trying to persuade casual fans to come out three times in the space of a week. Especially at the start of the year, as you said.

 

[LionNYC]

Here's a good question:

Would you rather have the opening game at home or the final game at home? (Can't have both, presumably).

In 2015 and 2016, the first game was away and the final game was at home. I prefer it that way.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I don't think we necessarily have to start out the way we did this year, with 4 straight home games in March and early April. In 2015, we alternated over that stretch. And while there are 5 weeks before the Yankees play at home, one is a FIFA match weekend anyway.

Of the 17 open weekends I mentioned above, 4 are before April 7, but remember that last season, we had 3 home games on a Wednesday or Thursday. If we have that many again this year, we could have the rest on weekends and only host 1 home game in that stretch.

On the whole, a front loaded home schedule wouldn't surprise me, but it's far from a foregone conclusion.

 

[Gotham Gator]

Here's a good question:

Would you rather have the opening game at home or the final game at home? (Can't have both, presumably).

In 2015 and 2016, the first game was away and the final game was at home. I prefer it that way.

I agree that provides benefits. It's also kind of necessary given weather.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

Ugh. Sounds like a good chance there will be an overload for home games at the start of the season again. There seems to be no way to avoid it, yet we did so in 2015.

This, more than any other reason, is why we need our own stadium.

 

[FredMertz]

Rent is in effect a shell game at YS. Since the part owner of the team, people with a financial stake in seeing the valuation rise, own the stadium. I would not be surprised if it was simply a cost plus contract where the plus part is quite low. And the costs are based on something reasonable, like the actual running costs, not running costs + bond service + depreciation.

But even still, that's basically shifting money from one hand to the other. Yes Yankees only own 20%, but the growth on that 20% is probably more than what they would get in a strict stadium deal.

I have it on good authority that the Yankees charge an exorbitant all-in fee for stadium rental, and it is the most pressing concern of current management and their P&L.

The Yankees cut them no breaks.

 

[Kjbert]

I have it on good authority that the Yankees charge an exorbitant all-in fee for stadium rental, and it is the most pressing concern of current management and their P&L.

The Yankees cut them no breaks.

That blows.

 

[Fantazma]

I have it on good authority that the Yankees charge an exorbitant all-in fee for stadium rental, and it is the most pressing concern of current management and their P&L.

The Yankees cut them no breaks.

if true why is not getting them to be more proactive to find a spot, 5 more years and they may be too much in the red.

 

[FootyLovin]

I have it on good authority that the Yankees charge an exorbitant all-in fee for stadium rental, and it is the most pressing concern of current management and their P&L.

The Yankees cut them no breaks.

Why the hell haven't you posted this in the stadium thread? And don't give me lame excuses like, "It's already been posted there ... 47 times."

Doesn't matter!!! Have you no respect for the stadium thread ethos?

 

[JGarrettLieb]

I have it on good authority that the Yankees charge an exorbitant all-in fee for stadium rental, and it is the most pressing concern of current management and their P&L.

The Yankees cut them no breaks.

Was the 20% ownership stake the price of the Yankees graciously allowing us to be ripped off by their pricing scheme?

 

[Ulrich]

I have it on good authority that the Yankees charge an exorbitant all-in fee for stadium rental, and it is the most pressing concern of current management and their P&L.

The Yankees cut them no breaks.

If NYCFC is paying an All-In fee each game, why the fck isn't the Grilled-cheese station open every game?!?!? FFS, the food choices are bad enough when everything is open, but keeping some closed at the top of filled sections is asinine.

edit: to keep this schedule related, they did have the grilled-cheese station open for three games last year.

 

[JayH]

edit: to keep this schedule related, they did have the grilled-cheese station open for three games last year.

Well then can you predict which three games on the predicted home schedule will feature the grilled-cheese station?

 

[Ulrich]

Well then can you predict which three games on the predicted home schedule will feature the grilled-cheese station?

The games that I buy food before getting to my section.

 

[FredMertz]

Why the hell haven't you posted this in the stadium thread? And don't give me lame excuses like, "It's already been posted there ... 47 times."

Doesn't matter!!! Have you no respect for the stadium thread ethos?

I've posted it myself. As far as the 20% ownership, I would guess there's some flexibility on that definition, relative to the standard, "put up 20% of expenses, share in 20% of the profits/losses" that most assume.

 

[JGarrettLieb]

I've posted it myself. As far as the 20% ownership, I would guess there's some flexibility on that definition, relative to the standard, "put up 20% of expenses, share in 20% of the profits/losses" that most assume.

What are they structured like Alibaba's shares?

 

[FredMertz]

What are they structured like Alibaba's shares?

There's never really been an official statement of the terms of their ownership interest.