This is the part I don't get. How is RBNY in any way a strong brand? The brand has detracted from the franchise, not added value. Note, I'm not talking about the owners or management, I'm talking about the intangible property of the brand itself. If you eliminated the Red Bull branding and replaced the team name with "the Kickers" or anyother generic type name, the value of the team if anything would go up, not down.
I'm not necessarily talking about the name "Red Bull", but rather the franchise itself. It's established and has some cache, 16 years worth, that is better than an expansion club with no history at all. So to use the Cosmos brand on an established club when you already know that at some point you will be adding another team to the same market is a bit wasteful. Imho the name, this valuable thing to quote inmate Blagojevich, should be kept in reserve to boost the cache of the inevitable NY2 team. Because, like it or not, MLS will never give up on NY2. And "Kickers" is a horrifyingly horrible name under any circumstances.
No way. They've spent the last two decades demonstrating a profound indifference to the city at best. Why should they receive an honorable and valuable name? The Cosmos organization has done more in the last few years to nurture a soccer culture in this city than the [Insert-Corporate-Name-Here]s have ever done. I would rather wait another ten years for a new round of expansion than hand over the name, crest and history to those yahoos.
