Todd Dunivant has the potential to be the best sporting director for NYCFC

One of the big worries entering the offseason was what New York City FC would do without a sporting director. Before the 2025 campaign ended, David Lee left his role as the sporting director, creating the vacancy. The club needs to build on from Pascal Jansen's first season in charge, which means some moves must be made. Plus, having a sporting director helps with the team's quest to negotiate with some free agents, including Justin Haak.

Thankfully, fans did not need to wait long. A few days after the 2025 season ended, NYCFC announced that Todd Dunivant is the new sporting director for the club. He joins the Pigeons from Sacramento Republic FC, where he was the general manager and president. He will officially begin his new role on January 1, 2026.

NYCFC has a new sporting director

For those who do not follow the USL Championship, Sacramento has been one of the more consistent teams in the league, especially under Dunivant. The team made the playoffs in seven out of the eight years during his tenure, and had an incredible run in the U.S. Open Cup back in 2022.

With NYCFC, the new sporting director "will be responsible for leading New York City FC’s Sporting department, building on the Club’s consistently strong performances on the pitch and impressive youth development." There will be multiple similarities to his previous job, but working in Major League Soccer will be a change and likely offer him a new challenge.

The good news is that Dunivant played 13 years in MLS. The defender spent many years with the LA Galaxy, but also played with the San Jose Earthquakes, the New York Red Bulls, and Toronto FC. In those 13 years, he won five MLS Cups, four of them occurring during his time with LA. Therefore, he knows what it takes to be a championship team, and that experience will ideally turn NYCFC into one of the best teams in the league.

Dunivant told newyorkcityfc.com that he is "honored to join New York City FC" and wants to "add to the success" of the club. While he has been successful with Sacramento, it is clear that NYCFC wanted to bring him based on his success on and off the pitch.

Hence, CEO Brad Sims told the club's website, "Todd understands and appreciates the importance of building and nurturing a winning culture like the one we have here at New York City FC. He’s been a leader on and off the pitch and knows what it takes to win trophies in this league. He will help us build teams capable of competing for trophies every year."

NYCFC appears to have found someone who could potentially become one of the best sporting directors in MLS. It is good that the club has someone already, but at the same time, fans will have to wait and see whether he can help build a team that could compete for a championship every year.

Arguably, and some might disagree, the former sporting directors, Claudio Reyna and Lee, were solid and helped build a team to compete most years. So, the pressure will be on Dunivant to exceed his predecessors. Still, his resume is quite strong. As such, he has the potential to become the best sporting director in NYCFC's history.