New York’s biggest thing when the region’s first World Cup game took place was not at MetLife Stadium, but 2,000 miles west, in Texas.
The New York Knicks went into game five of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs one game away from history. Their last championship came half a century ago but that doesn’t quite explain the level of hysteria gripping Manhattan.
This is New York’s team in a way no other side can claim to be and though they didn’t sweep the finals, their unprecedented comeback performance in game fourmay finally have given their fans some relief. The Knicks knew they were close.
And they went and finished the job, winning 94-90 to wrap up the title. Mass celebrations and ticket-tape parades ensued.
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it was curious timing for the other big sports event in town: the 2026 men’s football World Cup. The first of New York/New Jersey’s eight allocated games − the last of which is the final.
The run-in to major sports events on the ground is always a balance between cynicism and hype. With 16 cities and three countries involved in hosting this year’s tournament for the first time, the moment in each is more dilute.
In New York City, advertising is everywhere, people know it’s coming but do they mind? Football is the global game. Fifa tells us five billion people are football fans. Given the world’s population is now over eight billion, that means they still have plenty of work to do to reach universal adoption. That’s one reason this World Cup had to head to the US.
Joint-hosts Mexico know all about it and Canada are keen. But it will be fascinating to see football take place in a country that calls it something else. Speaking to New Yorkers, I found myself translating the sport, ‘Yes I work on football, sorry, soccer? You know, er, European football?’, as they nodded politely and moved the conversation to the Knicks.
Out in F Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘valley of ashes’ between Long Island and New York, I met members of City Football Group who are building a new, purpose-built venue for their US-based team, NYCFC, beside the NY Mets baseball stadium.
A capacity of 25,000 for a top-level football stadium might seem slim to Brits but their COO Jennifer O’Sullivan explained they have considered the numbers to best ensure a sell-out crowd and hint at the scarcity value that helps with demand. Not everyone will fit, you’d better get in first. And there’s no doubt, looking at their plans for the stadium, that you’ll have an amazing time at Etihad Park.
Sports fans in the US demand more from their sports events. At the launch of a soccer exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History, CEO of the NYNJ Host Committee Alex Lasry said New Yorkers could look forward to the ‘biggest sports entertainment event in history’ on July 19. He’s talking about the 2026 World Cup final of course and I guess he’s right. But it clarified for me the culture clash around the global game’s trip to the States.
North Americans expect their sport to come with sides. In fact, sometimes the entertainment is as meaty − and important − as the sport itself. It’s a different type of consumer culture to the UK, certainly, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But given the might of football − as we understand it here − it’s a shock to realise that football has gone Stateside to bat its eyelashes at those who could care less.
It was within the conversation around extraordinary prices being charged for World Cup tickets that the most instructive quirk of soccer in North America reached me. In this part of the world the best seats in a stadium are considered to be on the touchline. In Europe, all the expensive seats are, logically I think, in the banked seating at the halfway line. You have perspective there, you get the crowd vibe, but you have the best view.
Choosing to be armpit height to the players explains what this World Cup will be like, in the States at least.
Fans this side of the pond want to be involved with the game, part of the show, touching distance from the players. They want to mingle with the action because the soccer is, in itself, not yet enough.
Kate’s New York trip was supported by NYC Tourism + Conventions, Langham Hotels, where room rates start from $790USD per night in June, and Delta Air Lines – who have London-New York returns from £588