So, as expected, the lunch was great, but not too much information could be gathered that we don't already know. Here's a list of highlights:
- Intro:
- I had the steak..
- Tim couldn't make it, so just Claudio and Jason were in attendance with 4/5 contest winners.
- Stadium:
- A whole lot of stadium talk happened. One of the other winners is a huge Pier 40 activist who wants nothing more than to revive the entire Pier with a soccer arena. He knew a lot about the ins and outs of the politics surrounding the site and educated Claudio and Jason, seemingly grasping their interest and attention.
- When asked what his ideal stadium site would be Jason pointed out that the ideal sites are not the possible ones. He turned the question around and asked what our ideal sites are. Discussion flowed and nothing new was revealed.
- I asked Jason about cup matches at Yankee Stadium. He admitted that YS would definitely not work and that they're still working out where they'll play these matches. No solid plans yet.
- Priorities:
- Claudio explained NYCFC's progress as "leaps" instead of "steps" and that right now the Starting 11 is the priority. Academy and youth development is down the road, but not the highest priority at the moment.
- Expansion Draft:
- When the Expansion Draft was brought up, Jason said he couldn't be happier. Also mentioned that a lot of behind-the-scenes politics were involved with deals between teams regarding player protection or player selection.
- Frank Lampard:
- I asked about Lampard, phrasing it in terms of "When will we hear news?" and Jason responded that he thought news should've broken by now. Take that as you will.
- Home Jersey:
- I also asked about the home jersey fan reactions. Claudio seemed to agree with my personal view of "What did you expect?". He is very adamant about the fact that we are a part of City Football Group and MCFC, NYCFC, and Melbourne City are all part of this collective identity. He's a fan of the sky blue color but also said that there will definitely be room to grow and change it up in the future. He's glad the club had a larger role in designing the away kit.
- First Game:
- When I asked Jason what he thought about playing Orlando City in the 1st game of the league, he said he was happy about it. He actually does expect them to sell-out or close-to-sell-out their stadium for the opener. He also mentioned that he preferred that we didn't play them at the Charleston Battery Challenge Cup, but that regardless of what people say, NYCFC's first game will be the league match in Orlando, not anything played before then.
- MCFC Academy:
- We'll likely get only 1 player this season, if any.
That's all I've got. If I remember anything else I'll edit my post, but thanks for your help in thinking up questions! Hope you enjoy the write-up.