Video: "Big Soccer in the Big Apple"

MLS just posted this Insider video, showing behind-the-scenes footage of the announcement of NYCFC.

It begins with the press call with MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Yankees President Randy Levine and Ferran Soriano, the CEO of Manchester City FC, and continues as the three men meet with reporters. We also hear from Claudio Reyna. In between, they share a little of the owners' philosophy.

It's great stuff.

Empire of Soccer: "10 Possible Locations For a Soccer Stadium in NYC"

Bill Reese, writing for Empire of Soccer, has an excellent review of potential sites for City's new stadium.

These are the locations he highlights:

1. Aqueduct Racetrack (South Ozone Park, Queens)
2. The Iron Triangle (Flushing/Willets Point, Queens)
3. Flushing Airport (Flushing/College Point, Queens)
4. Columbia Football Stadium (Inwood, Manhattan)
5. South Bronx/Hunts Point
6. Randall’s Island
7. Pier 40 (Hudson River Park, Manhattan)
8. Aviator Sports Complex (Marine Park, Brooklyn)
9. LIC Waterfront (Long Island City, Queens)
10. LIC Industrial/Newtown Creek (Long Island City, Queens)

For each, he presents a summary of pros and cons, grading each on its Feasibility, Location, Transit Access and Highway Access and giving each an overall grade.

It's a fantastic summary. Personally, I would love to see the Pier 40 location, although agree it is unlikely at the very best. And I've long considered LIC as an ideal location for sports facilities, given the confluence of subway lines, LIRR lines and highways. There's always the Sunnyside Yards railyard, if it can be moved or built on the way Barclays Center was built in Brooklyn. The Mets passed up the opportunity to build in the shadow of Midtown's skyscrapers, perhaps City will be able to.

The First NYCFC Merchandise Hits! Sort Of.

Well, no merchandise from the club, so Adam Smith's invisible hand is taking over. Who Are Ya Designs is now offering this clever tshirt, which skirts nicely around trademarks but gets its point across:

I dunno. I'm not a huge fan of adopting Manchester City's nomenclature (and help me out; isn't "Citeh" usually disparaging?). But it's a start. We'll see what comes next.