New York City FC Logo PNG
The round emblem, the logo of New York City FC, demonstrates the uniqueness of the only club playing in all five boroughs of New York. The original monogram design and color palette symbolize the team’s unity and its close connection with the city.
New York City FC: Brand overview
| Founded: | May 21, 2013 |
| Founder: | City Football Group, Yankee Global Enterprises |
| Headquarters: | The Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Website: | nycfc.com |
New York City FC is the first and only American professional soccer club in Major League Soccer (MLS) competing across all five New York boroughs. NYCFC became the twentieth team in the league on May 21, 2013. The team played its first match at Yankee Stadium on March 8, 2015.
MLS was interested in placing a second team in New York as early as 2006 but couldn’t find investors. In 2012, Commissioner Don Garber contacted Ferran Soriano, former Vice President of Barcelona and newly appointed CEO of Manchester City, regarding this.
In 2013, Manchester City from the English Premier League, in partnership with the baseball team New York Yankees, paid $100 million for the league expansion. The company New York City Football Club, LLC was also registered with the New York State Department on May 7, 2013, and got its name based on its location.
City Football Group, which also owns and manages the Premier League’s Manchester City football club, is the principal investor of New York City FC and owns 80 percent of the club’s shares, while the remaining 20 percent belongs to Yankee Global Enterprises (the company owning New York Yankees).
City Football Group is the principal investor of New York City FC and owns 80 percent of the club’s shares. This holding company is partially owned by the Chinese firms CITIC Capital and China Media Capital. The remaining 20 percent belongs to Yankee Global Enterprises, which is controlled by the family and partners of businessman George Steinbrenner.
Meaning and History
Initially, the team used a temporary image of a blue circle with the inscription “New York City FC.” On February 4, 2014, it was announced that an official club logo would be selected. Originally scheduled for March 3, the voting was postponed as the Yankees vetoed one of the potential emblems for violating their trademark. Two logos, variants for New York City FC, were presented on March 10. Over four days, more than 100,000 votes were cast, resulting in the selection of the emblem that now forms the club’s style basis. The winner was announced on March 20, 2014.
The debut logo of New York City FC contains elements created by two designers. Rafael Esquer from Alfalfa Studio conceived the graphic symbol: interlaced “N,” “Y,” and “C,” signifying team unity. Matthew Wolff was responsible for shaping the club’s visual identity. He placed the entwined letters at the center of several concentric circles of sky blue, obsidian blue, and orange colors of the flag. The official New York flag also uses this color scheme.
What is New York City FC?
New York City FC is a professional soccer club from the USA located in New York. It participates in the Eastern Conference, competing in MLS. The team was established in 2013 and started competing in Major League Soccer in 2015 as the twentieth expansion franchise. The primary owner of the team is City Football Group, which holds 80% of the shares, and the remaining 20% belongs to Yankee Global Enterprises.
The victorious New York City FC logo was inspired by the old New York subway token created by the Transit Authority in 1953 and used for 50 years as the standard fare for rides. The last version of the token had a cut-out pentagon in the center, representing the five boroughs of the city: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. This is similar to what is depicted in the franchise logo. They are positioned on either side of the New York monogram to reinforce the club’s connection to the entire city.
On the wide sky-blue circle is the full name NYCFC: “New York City Football Club” in dark blue. Above is the location, and below – is the status of the soccer club. The inscription is executed in the classic Gotham font, a fully American font developed by the typography Hoefler & Co. and inspired by the city’s signage.
New York City FC: Interesting Facts
New York City FC (NYCFC) is a Major League Soccer (MLS) soccer team that started in 2015. Even though they’re pretty new, they’ve quickly become an important part of the soccer scene.
- How They Started: NYCFC joined MLS as the 20th team in 2013 and started playing in 2015. They brought another top-level soccer team to the New York area, which stirred up new rivalries and excitement.
- Who Owns Them: They’re owned by two big groups. One is the City Football Group, which also owns Manchester City, and the other is Yankee Global Enterprises from the New York Yankees. This mix gives them a lot of soccer knowledge and a strong spot in New York’s sports world.
- Where They Play: They’re working on getting their soccer stadium, but they play at Yankee Stadium for now. Playing soccer in a famous baseball stadium is unique and shows how they blend into New York’s sports culture.
- Big Names in the Beginning: Right from the start, they signed famous players like David Villa, Frank Lampard, and Andrea Pirlo, showing they wanted to be one of the best teams immediately.
- Winning Big: In 2021, they won the MLS Cup for the first time, proving they’re a new team and a strong competitor.
- Growing Soccer Talent: NYCFC is all about helping young players get better through its youth academies. It also helps the community and makes soccer popular with kids.
- Big Rivalries: Their games against the New York Red Bulls are big. These matches excite fans and show how much people in New York love soccer.
- Connections Around the World: Being part of the City Football Group means NYCFC has ties to soccer teams and talent worldwide, which helps them bring in good players and be part of bigger soccer projects.
NYCFC might be newer to MLS, but they’ve quickly shown they’re serious about winning, growing soccer in New York, and being part of the global soccer community.
Font and Colors
New York City Football Club demonstrates patriotism even in small details. Tiny pentagons on its logo represent the five boroughs, and the large circle symbolizes the local subway token, reinforcing the club’s connection with its hometown. The most prominent feature is the monogram – the intertwining of the letters “N,” “Y,” and “C.” It can be considered a standalone element of the emblem, as it appeared first and was not initially placed in a circle. Due to the numerous colored rings, the image resembles a rondel, but not a classical one, but rather one of its modern interpretations.
In the wide light-blue ring are written the city’s name (“NEW YORK CITY”) and the status of the sports organization (“FOOTBALL CLUB”). The geometric font with serifs belongs to the Gotham Medium family. It was created by Tobias Frere-Jones, an American typographer and owner of the Frere-Jones Type studio. He made the font one hundred 100 New York, as he used local construction signs as references.
The color palette is also not as simple as it seems: designers tried to convey the cultural and historical heritage of New York using several colors. The logo utilizes Obsidian Blue (#28295C), Sky Blue (#78A5DB), Orange (#E76B31), and White. A similar color scheme is present on the city flag – a three-striped banner with a seal.
The only difference is that the football club emblem has two shades of blue. This allowed for transforming the image and adding more colorful rings so the graphic symbol didn’t appear monotonous. Matthew Wolff took responsibility for this innovation, creating part of the logo without the monogram.
New York City FC color codes
| Ruddy Blue | Hex color: | #6cace4 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 108 172 228 | |
| CMYK: | 53 25 0 11 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 298 C |
| Maastricht Blue | Hex color: | #041e42 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 4 30 66 | |
| CMYK: | 94 55 0 74 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 2768 C |
| Halloween Orange | Hex color: | #f15524 |
|---|---|---|
| RGB: | 241 85 36 | |
| CMYK: | 0 66 85 5 | |
| Pantone: | PMS 1655 C |
