Nick, in soccer is fundamental the CONTINUITY of a history. Even if the Rangers now are in the 4th level, their history is assured by 50k fans who there were also in the Scottish Premier League last year in the same stadium. These Cosmos clowns in 2013 will be in NY state AFTER 30 YEARS ( !!! ) by old Cosmos which played in the their gold age in NJ. In IMO it is only a stupi BRAND. GO NYCFC !!!
Close your eyes for a second and imagine that Napoli decided to close up business. I KNOW ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN but just imagine it did. Your beloved club stopped. Imagine that. Imagine 30 years later there was a chance they came back...would you say it was a STUPID BRAND? I am not saying your WRONG because everyone has an opinion on what is good and what is bad - im just saying - to say its stupid is unfair as there were many who the Cosmos were their club...much like Napoli is yours.
While I believe that the Cosmos would be the best name for a NY MLS team, I don't believe it's a deal killer if they aren't. The previous ownership did a lot of damage to the brand in my eyes.
The current ownership isn't doing the brand any favors either. Not even being able to start the NASL season on time, might even be more embarrassing than anything PK did. And they seem even more delusional. Fans wanted to hear about their MLS aspirations during the recent BB Q&A, and not that they hired a club historian, or that they will be the best club on earth by winning a few USOC games. I understand that they probably are trying to play hardball with MLS, but it is hard to do that when you come off as a bunch of clowns and can't even put together a staff and team in six months. MLS has all the leverage with #20, so don't even bother. The point is that MLS holds all the cards when the stadium project starts. They can pick and chose which really rich group of people they want to own the new franchise and stadium. If the Cosmos and Sela sports don't have that cash, they will get run over and be forced to sell the brand before they damage it even further. Then the new group will decide if they want their own name/identity or will buy the Cosmos brand. A win-win situation for the fans.
Fair point but with the signing of Mendes today, I feel they are at least starting to put together a team to actually play in a league. Something that the previous circus never did. Yes the delay does make them look very FCNYesque but still better than nothing. Anyone who would have expected them to say anything about a MLS bid at that fan meeting is just kidding themselves at this point. To talk of MLS at this juncture would just run down the league they currently call home. Not a good idea if you want to sell tickets for this coming season.
I think you really nail it right here. They are playing hardball - they have been doing so ever since they announced NASL - but MLS from what I understand wasnt all that impressed. Fact of the matter is, MLS holds the cards with the stadium plan...as you said. The Cosmos now have to realize that no stadium plan they put together is going to be as ideal and start working on doing whats right by this whole thing. The other thing you are right about is the BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD - thats what PK and Company said, although as Ed mentioned, at least with a player signing today it seems they are serious about getting on the field.
The name isn't enough to make the full connection for me. It does seem a lot better than being a little league baseball team named the Brooklyn Dodgers, but not enough better. However, this is just me. I don't feel as though it's the same team, but I have no quarrel with anyone who does feel that.
The current cosmos ownership in the meeting with the fans when asked point blank about possible MLS aspirations-- an MLS team may not be in our future... Then they talked about becoming a super club. I think they sincerely believe they can do it "their way." Months ago when they said they would rather invest 100 million in their own club rather than giving it to MLS i thought they were simply blowing hot air in an attempt to get a better deal. But now it seems more likely that they were serious. It's becoming to look more and more like they are simply reluctant to enter a league with salary cap and single entity. They feel much more comfortable with unlimited spending and traditional club ownership structure. Either that or they simply don't have the money for MLS epxansion...... Either way it seems as if the Cosmos days of coming to MLS are becoming less likely and Man City or PSG may win the bid.... Very little indication at this time that Cosmos would be willing to sell the brand, even though that is what most fans want and what would seem to make more sense.
The longer they screw around, the more they dilute the brand. If what you are saying is accurate (and from what we've seen so far, it most likely is), then this group will devalue the Cosmos name to the extent that nobody will be interested in buying it once NYC2 is ready to go anyway. This group is rapidly turning the storied Cosmos name into FCNY part 2. A super club in a minor league. What a joke.
Once again.. Do you really expect the Cosmos to do anything but talk up the NASL at this point ? I mean seriously what team would say "Yes we'd rather be in MLS because the NASL is really just a minor shit league but remember please buy tickets to watch us play in this shit league" ?
I think you are 100 percent right here - lot of the talk is because they are in a deal with NASL - and NASL has said they know the Cosmos could go MLS - but theCosmos have to play the part They also are playing the part because they are playing a game of poker with the league too. However, to the point of the other two posters - they really right now are showing that maybe they do think life in division 2 is better and that they can change the scope of soccer from Division 2. The reality is that no one really knows what is going on and yes - this team could very well be City FC whatever - this is a very strong reality. The Cosmos can still get in though - i just keep seeing parallels to Saputo and Montreal. Will be interesting to see what happens but the bottom line is - if the Cosmos dont go MLS - they will eventually go the route of FCNY because MLS is coming to Queens. MLS has all the cards right now.
You are right. The only important thing is that in 2016 NYC will have a team in MLS with a own soccer stadium, Cosmos ( I hope that the name will be NYCFC .... ) or not Cosmos.
Regardless - the tam is coming - MLS feels very comfortable with this stadium going through. Start looking at airfare Napoli PS - how about that Udinese Fan? Respect to him lol
Enormous respect for him. The problem in Itlaly is called TESSERA DEL TIFOSO. PS - I must admit without problem that the 2 best TIFOSERIE in Italy are Verona and Atalanta ( the main rivals of the Napoli fans... ). The Verona fans are gone in over 300 to Palermo ( Sicily ) in a Tuesday night with the game in TV for a Italy Cup game ( !!! ) and yesterday ( Wednesday ) they are gone in about 100 / 150 to Cittadella ( not away from Verona ) to see only the last 8 minutes of a game which was been postpone for fog. The 5.500 tickets for the away sector in San Siro ( Inter - Verona of Italy Cup , next Tuesday ) are already sold out !!! Simply great !!!
I got a bunch of Napoli fans in my society over here. They snicker when i wear my Salernitana Jacket lol - i think of you everytime But lets see about this team - Stadium is KEY
I read somewhere Manchester City wants to establish their "city brand" all over the world. If they buy the MLS franchise, I'm not sure I like the sound of "New York City City".
about 10K people showed up to a Manchester United event in NYC in October.......that would alienate a lot of fans. however, perhaps they would support RB? Regardless - ******** another team SPREADING their brand - this team should have an NYC identity - Cosmos or not.
I agree with that sentiment--at least Cosmos is native to NYC and US soccer history--but what can we do? Right now it doesnt seem they will enter the league. That leaves only the Man City bid group, the PSG bid group, and the Curtis Martin group which unfortunately will most likely not be able to compete with the oil dollars of the two arab groups. NY St. Germain? NY City FC? Empire City FC?
While I too have heard it seems the Cosmos are playing hard ball, I have heard there is still time for them to sort out the road with the MLS. Anything can happen but I just dont think anyone should count out anything just yet. The fact that all we are hearing is negative rumors...like the Cosmos are out... they dont want to be in MLS etc means nothing. We heard that about Saputo and two weeks later a deal was done. I dont expect a deal anytime soon but I still think there is time for this to sort out if the Cosmos and MLS play nice.
Makes total sense for Man City in terms of brand extension. The Beckham tie in is intriguing, as well.
Why is it that this is pegged as Manchester City starting an MLS team rather than Sheik who owns Man City investing in MLS team. The st Louis rams or Arsenal don't own the Colorado Rapids do they? While I understand the correlation, I don't like the headlines. Does this mean ManU fans in NYC are not gonna support the team if this comes to fruition? I just don't want there to be any eurosnob backlash from this.
Good question. I too wonder how much this would be affiliated with City (now I'm thinking they should call it Man City USA) or if it would just have the same backers.