Sports Illustrated Stadium is located in Harrison, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Manhattan and the rest of New York City. It’s been home to Gotham FC since 2020, and originally opened its doors in 2010 when it became home of the New York Red Bulls MLS soccer team.
It’s a large, modern arena with a real grass surface and a partial roof surrounding the perimeter of the stadium.
New York is one of the most vibrant cities on earth and it’s an adventure any time we visit.
Let’s cover how you can take in a match and visit one of the world’s great cities.
Stadium information
Sports Illustrated Stadium has a maximum capacity of around 25,000 fans, though most Gotham games these days see crowds of 5,000 to 7,000 attending. Looking at attendance records for 2024, Gotham games frequently had some of the smallest crowds across the league. Given that the NYC Metro area is home to over 20 million people, with many residents coming from countries where soccer is king, it’s surprising that the 2023 NWSL championship winning team — one that’s also filled with many members of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team — can only get a few thousand people to show up each to the pitch each weekend.
It's strange that Gotham has some of the lowest attendance averages given its proximity to a metro area with tens of millions of residents.
If we had to guess, we’d say the location is to blame. It’s far from Brooklyn and Manhattan, in a quiet industrial corner of New Jersey, but we had fun on our trip there. On the plus side, the stadium never feels too crowded whenever you’re there.
Where to sit
At games with a daytime kickoff, the best seats are along the western side of the pitch, between sections 106 and 113. Around noon, pretty much every seat will be in the sun, but as the afternoon goes on, those sections will have the most shade.
Since Gotham’s game attendance is generally low at this location, the 200-level seats are usually not offered for sale; the upper areas remain vacant during matches.
While shade is not an issue when selecting seats for evening games, you should know that the roof that extends from the top isn’t completely closed. So for rain coverage, you’d likely only be dry in the upper 200-level sections that are off limits during Gotham matches, so prepare for the weather appropriately.
- Sections 106–113 on the western side are the best seats — mostly shaded in the afternoon
- The roof is partial and the covered upper sections are off-limits, so rain hits the lower bowl regardless of where you sit — dress for weather
- Accessible seating at the top of the lower stands has good sightlines, but reaching it involves a lot of stairs — wheelchair users will need to find the elevators
What to eat and drink
Food options were pretty forgettable, with most concession stands offering standard stadium fare like hot dogs and burgers. There were empanadas, which we enjoyed, but everything in the stadium seemed to come from one central kitchen that gets distributed at each outlet (every stand sold burgers, hot dogs, and empanadas). It was a bummer that a good number of other interesting food spots offering things like chicken sandwiches and burritos were closed during our match, as they were likely open only for Red Bulls MLS games.
On the plus side, we were happy to see this stadium didn’t sell soda in 20-ounce bottles, but instead in refillable cups, with many soda refill stands all around the arena offering a variety of sodas, including fizzy water drinks.
Team merchandise, accessibility, restrooms, and pre-game activities
Team merch was sold in temporary pop-up stands at a couple locations around the pitch, and we picked up a Gotham FC shirt that was special for our Pride Night match. The stadium does have a brick-and-mortar team store, but unfortunately it’s only open during Red Bulls MLS games and is filled with that team’s gear.
The arena has a wide walkway halfway up the stadium with lots of accessible locations at the top of the lower stands. Unfortunately, there were a lot of steps to climb to get into the arena, so wheelchair users will have to seek out elevators to get up to accessible-seating areas.
Restrooms were clean and offered good privacy, but even with low attendance we saw lines outside of women’s restrooms at halftime.
We were a little surprised that Sports Illustrated Stadium only opens its gates 60 minutes before kickoff, as most teams do it at 90 minutes and there was a crowd of several hundred people waiting around. Gotham did a good job of providing early fans things to do outside of the stadium, though; there were free T-shirt giveaways, goals set up for kids to kick soccer balls into, sponsor tents, and supporter groups playing music, and singing songs.
Pre-game, in-game, and post-game vibes
The large fan zone outside of the gates was a good way to welcome fans and give them something to do before games started. We got to our seats, ate some food, and watched the players warm up.
In-game vibes were good as there was a large supporter area behind the goals keeping chants and music going throughout the match. We happened to be sitting with a group of executives from Seattle who were there to see the opposing Reign team play. It was fun to watch the game end in a tie thanks to a last-minute goal from Seattle, as our section went absolutely nuts.
Post-game was fairly chill. Players cooled down on the pitch after our daytime game and most people seemed to get autographs from above the player benches in sections 109 and 110. We spotted a few Gotham team members on the injured list in the audience, including Midge Purce, and it was fun to see her mixing it up with fans in the stands throughout the match.
- Gates don't open until 60 minutes before kickoff (vs. 90 at most stadiums) — get into the lines that build up fast
- The pre-game fan zone outside the gates keeps the crowd busy: T-shirt giveaways, kids' soccer goals, sponsor tents, and supporter groups playing music and singing
- The large supporter section behind the goals drives the in-game atmosphere with steady chants and music throughout — it papers over the low attendance
- For autographs, position yourself above the player benches in sections 109 and 110 after the final whistle, and post-game vibes are quite chill
Getting there
Flying in
New York City is likely one of the busiest cities in terms of air travel in the entire U.S., with three major airports serving the area. On this particular trip we flew into and out of Newark, New Jersey, but flights to JFK and LaGuardia are easy enough, and any of the options will get you where you need to be. You can probably find several nonstop flights to NYC each day on most airlines, but know that nonstop tickets to NYC can be a bit pricey.
Renting a car or going car-free
The NYC area is the one place in America where having a car will definitely be a setback and a liability. It can feel impossible to park anywhere and difficult to drive everywhere, so it’s best to enjoy the city without a car. The busy subway system and train lines that criss-cross the region can get you almost anywhere in the city cheaply and fairly quickly. And in a pinch, there’s always a taxi or rideshare option.
Each time we book travel to NYC, travel websites try to upsell us a car rental with our trip, and it makes us wonder what someone from Minnesota or California would even do if they booked a rental car in New York City.
Driving in
While we would strongly suggest not using a car in the NYC area, there were two parking lots adjacent to Sports Illustrated Stadium. There was also parking available on surrounding streets in the neighborhood next to the stadium.
Taking public transit
You can reach the arena by taking the PATH train and getting off at the Harrison stop. It’s about a 30- to 40-minute trip from the southern end of Manhattan, which will take additional time from wherever you’re staying. You’ll likely have to switch to the PATH train at the World Trade Center stop in the subway system. Once you’re off at the Harrison PATH stop, it’s about a 10-minute walk to Sports Illustrated Stadium.
From anywhere in Manhattan, a train trip to the arena will be about 60 to 90 minutes each way so be sure to factor that into your gameday plans.
Where to stay
New York is a vibrant area with hundreds of options for hotels. While you can stay closer to the arena in Newark, New Jersey, we’d strongly suggest taking the plunge and getting a hotel somewhere in Manhattan to fully enjoy the experience. NYC hotels are famously pricey, often $500/night as a standard rate, but if you look around you may find better deals in good neighborhoods. We tend to stay at places around midtown, usually somewhere near Central Park or around Union Square. If you have friends or family out in Brooklyn, that’s also a good option and a fun place to be.
What to do in New York City (besides watch soccer)
We grew up on the West Coast, so trips to NYC were largely rare but fun vacations.
NYC lives up to the hype; it’s a vibrant city that never sleeps. You can eat fresh sushi at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday at a surprisingly crowded restaurant and follow it up with gelato at 3 a.m., before hailing a cab to your hotel when the bars close at 4 a.m.
New York City is one of the most exciting places to experience and it blows our minds any time we take trips there.
Every food imaginable is available in the New York area and we make a point on each trip to enjoy cuisines we can’t get easily back home. We even plan our NYC trips around meals. For example, if we stay in Manhattan for four days, we’ll have time for 11 or 12 meals, so we try to make each one of them count. We love getting classics like chicken and rice from halal carts; we make a point to go to one upscale meal at a fancy place; and we hit up at least one famous pizzeria for a perfect coal-fired pie. There’s great Chinese food in Chinatown and Italian food in Little Italy. We start every morning with a bagel better than any we can get on the West Coast. We also try to check out whatever trendy thing is happening in the food world that likely started in NYC, whether that’s cronuts, or $30 green smoothies.
New York City has some of the best museums in the country. We love the famous ones like MoMA and The Guggenheim, but we’ve also enjoyed trips to less popular ones like the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. The American Museum of Natural History is just off Central Park and is not to be missed, as everyone should get to walk under a giant life-size blue whale at least once in their lives. We even check out the Bronx Zoo occasionally when we’re in town. There are also New York-only options like the Tenement Museum, the NYC Transit Museum, and the 9/11 Memorial.
Honestly, the best times we’ve had in NYC were largely unplanned. We have the most fun just putting some money on MetroCards (or getting a seven-day unlimited pass) and taking the subway to explore many parts of the city. We shop at places we don’t have at home, like Indian spice stores that are filled to the rafters, or Japanese chains that sell clothing and toiletries, or pretty much anywhere in SoHo. We get burgers at the original Shake Shack and eat them on a Madison Square Park bench in the shadow of the Flatiron Building. We take a train up to Central Park then walk around it for a day then take a train back.
We are used to most American cities having just a handful of high rises, generally limited to a dozen or so city blocks. In NYC, the skyscrapers seem to go on forever, off to the horizon in all directions. When you take time to explore the city, you’ll find that every few city blocks you’ll spot something famous from history or movies. Things like the New York Public Library’s lions from Ghostbusters, or the Greenwich Village streets from Edward Hopper's Nighthawks, or where the Stonewall Riots kicked off the gay rights movement from a bar on Christopher Street. There’s also the half-dozen beautifully ornate bridges and one great option is taking a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and grabbing pizza at Grimaldi’s before heading back.
- NYC is the one American city where a car is a liability, and the subway will get you everywhere you need to go
- Stay in Manhattan rather than Newark to get the full NYC experience
- Plan your trip around meals, it's some of the best in the country
- Buy a 7-day unlimited MetroCard and just ride — some of the best NYC experiences come from wandering with no fixed plan
New York City is an exciting place and we love every trip we’ve gotten to take there. It’s a shame that Gotham FC games aren’t better attended, given the team’s stacked roster filled with great players. We do think the location is mostly to blame, since it easily takes at least an hour to get to the arena from anywhere else in New York. But if there’s any city in the nation you could plan a vacation around seeing a soccer match, you really can’t go wrong with a trip to NYC to see Gotham play and take in all the sights and sounds of New York City.
