By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

New York City FC fans just might be rooting against the Yankees reaching the postseason or going deep in the MLB playoffs.

A failure or early elimination by the Yankees will mean that two matches slated for Red Bull Arena could be moved to Yankee Stadium.

In a letter to City Members Tuesday afternoon, NYCFC CEO Brad Sims said moving the games depends on how the Yankees fare. Entering the start of the three-game series at the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday night, the Yankees have the first wildcard position. There are six games remaining in the regular season.

Here is what Sims related to the fans:

Home games against D.C. United (Oct. 23) and Chicago Fire (Oct. 27th), which are scheduled at Red Bull Arena have some potential variability. Those games could be moved back to Yankee Stadium if the baseball team doesn’t advance past the American League Division Series. If they reach the AL Championship Series, those matches will stay at RBA.

If the Yankees reach the World Series, the Nov. 7 Decision Day game at the stadium could be affected. Game 7 of the series is scheduled for Nov. 3. If the Yankees wind up hosting Game 6 or 7, that November contest could be relocated to RBA.

All NYCFC playoff games will be played in the Bronx.

Sims wrote that the team was working closely with the MLS office, the Yankees and the Mets for its 2022 season. CitiField in Queens is a viable second option, he stated, and RBA hopefully was out of the picture.

“Let me be clear, we are not planning to schedule any MLS 2022 regular season home matches at Red Bull Arena,” he wrote.

Added Sims: “The plan is to play as many games as we can at Yankee Stadium. However, based on the 2022 MLS scheduling template [which includes holds for FIFA breaks and a number of other competitions such as Concacaf Champions League, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and Leagues Cup] we already know that Yankee Stadium will not be available for all 17 home games. We’re working with the Mets to secure Citi Field as our secondary venue. As it is currently trending, we are likely to play roughly 2/3 of next year’s home matches at Yankee Stadium with the plan to schedule the remaining matches at Citi Field.”

Sims had a caveat about RBA for next year.

“However, if we find ourselves with a conflict for any reason [such as the Yankees rainout makeup games this season] and neither Yankee Stadium nor Citi Field are available, then Red Bull Arena would be our third venue option,” he wrote.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.