Man City Owners Pondering Bid for NY II; Red Bull Having Second Thoughts?

You have to love bigsoccer. All the article stated was a couple of groups being interested in MLS and it somehow got turned into some crazy fantasy of rich oil sheiks throwing billions into some rival league and pushing MLS into the ocean. Apparently it will happen because the USSF can be bought and Sunil Gulati is a space alien. Or when President Obama and Congress declare that soccer can be our only sport and ban all others.

Maybe some folks ate too much turkey?

 

The few screaming loudly. Unfortunately this works on people.

That's what sad.

Sheer idiocy that if screamed loud enough can seem legit. Biggest problem or society faces today....on so many different levels. Disturbing.

 

And this thread was going really well before this GPL nonsense was brought up. Can we get back to the idea of NY2=City FC and RB changing/returning to Empire?

It makes to too much sense to bury it behind 3 pages of pixiedust vomit

 

Where the hell did I say any of this was likely? Wishful thinking? SFS threw out a scenario that while not likely, it could happen. I'm commenting on that scenario. What is so complicated about that for you?

Yes the money is there from these investors that a scenario like SFS threw out there could happen. You seem to think the money isn't there for his scenario to happen. It is, if chosen to be used that way. But commenting on it doesn't mean I'm wishfully hoping it will happen or that I think it will. Can you even distinguish between the two? Exactly what about this is so complicated for you?

Saying something is possible doesn't mean it's likely, or ever will happen. Acknowledging these investors have the money to alter the path the USSF/MLS have taken doesn't mean it'll ever happen, or that I'm wishfully hoping it will. Is that really so hard for you to comprehend?Seriously? Lol.

 

So, some of us have pointed to facts that we think makes the money being there irrelevant. Should you not address those facts?

 

I agree 1000% with this.

 

Timmy Chandler?

 

Almost as much fun as watching DC fans bitch and moan about losing home field advantage to NY, then promptly going out and choking when they got it against Houston.

 

Same old same old expansion type thread. Suspiciously pro-MLS guys who work for the league/website and then the crazy PROMOTION/RELEGATION eurosnobs.

 

And now the plot thickens....

David Beckham to Cosmos?

http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/cosmos2.php?article_id=32320

 

Emphasis mine. The only carrot MLS needs is a stadium and a good financial backing. Without those 2 things Ibrahimovic could play for the cosmos and wouldn't even mather. (although bringing Ibra to cosmos could be a good sign of a good financial backing).

 

Savarese, Becks, Cobi Jones-impressive front office is being assembled.

Cantona--that was just plain boneheaded and i think he already left the team?
I think Pele is an honorary Board member?

 

Pele is honorary President of the new Cosmos.

This picture is worth a thousand words....and a gazillion dollars.

The multi-generational international marketing possibilities with these two guys would be unprecedented.

 

I may be making this up, but doesn't FIFA have some rule about owners not being players (and vice versa)? I thought I read that at some point around this whole Beckham thing.

And Beckham as a player isn't a carrot at all for MLS. They already have that.

 

Isn't that picture from SIX years ago?!?!?! Check out the web address for MLS' website..............

 

The whole Beckham to NASL Cosmos thing seems like a REALLY hard pill to swallow, but I guess next season the guy is going to be 38 so maybe its not totally insane if the Cosmos owners pay him a ton of cash. But he won't be around for the MLS version which probably won't take off until 2015 or later when a stadium could get done. He would be in his 40s at that point.

I think Becks wants to own a high profile MLS club, but I don't think he wants to actually spend his money. Remember in the realm of MLS owners, his 250M is pretty small potatoes compared to some of the other owners who are worth billions. So if MLS wouldn't allow him to use his discount for a NYC franchise, what I think could happen is that he sells that discounted franchise option to someone like Orlando if they get their stadium deal done. So for instance if Becks has the rights to buy a franchise at 20M and the going rate is 100M from the league, Becks can leverage the league price and get maybe 60M from Orlando for his franchise rights. Becks can then take that cash and structure a deal with the new Saudi owners of the Cosmos. He gives them the money from Orlando and agrees to a 2 year playing/sponsorship deal with the Cosmos. He might not even have to play away games, but he certainly would have to go on off-season tours with probably other retired superstars. The Cosmos ownership doesn't pay Becks but instead gives him more percentage in the stadium/club deal.

So come age 40, Becks actually retires and moves into the front office of a NYC club and 30k stadiums that he owns maybe 25-30% of but didn't actually cost him any money from his pocket. And the real money to sign future DP players comes from the Saudis not Becks. Becks remains the face of the organization, maybe even manages the club at some point. Its a pretty far fetched scenario, but I don't think moving from Real Madrid to MLS in 2007 is that much of a step down compared to moving from LA Galaxy to NASL Cosmos. He'll do it, if the money is right.

 

One of the Surinamese teams in the CCL qualifiers a few years ago had an owner/player/coach. Of course it's possible that the rules aren't enforced that tightly in smaller countries, and the Surinamese authorities probably preferred it to his earlier role as owner/player/coach of an armed insurgency against the government.

 

what on earth makes you think he can sell his contracted discount? no offense but the notion is frankly stupid.

he's david beckham ... his discount applies to him and him alone and whoever he joins with in an ownership bid, unless that is in NYC or LA. and as i said before, he isn't precluded from being part of a NYC or LA ownership he simply doesn't get any new franchise fee discount.

if he is simply going to be the marketing face and not the money anyway then the discount is sort of irrelevant to him personally so he is free to chose whatever market he wishes to become a part owner in, even NYC ... and the rest of the ownership in a NYC franchise doesn't get his discount but then they wouldn't have gotten it anyway without him so they aren't losing anything either ... only gaining David Beckham's brand power to add to their new franchise.

 

Based on what would you consider this trio imressive? Just because they are former players?

 

Neither of us know the details of the franchise rights option. At this point it is all just speculation. It is also interesting that he was offered 13M a year in Paris but took a pay cut from 6M to 4M a year from AEG. It is entirely likely that aspects of his non-salary deal (like the franchise rights option) could have changed in exchange for him taking a smaller contract. No one knows. Even how the discount works is unknown. Is it a set expansion fee or a percentage discount from the asking price? So if MLS is asking 100M now, does he only get a 50% discount from that asking price meaning he still pays more than any other franchise owner has, or is is price set when he signed the contract? Unless the entire contract was sitting on our desks, no one can say for sure what he can do and at what price. It is as speculative to suggest that MLS will allow him to sell his discount in order to bankroll a NYC deal as it is it suggest that the contract says he is not allowed to make such a deal. No one knows.

 

Send the Cosmos on a World Friendly Tour with a few other aging players and they'll rake in cash and put themselves in a good spot to enter MLS in the coming years.

 

The money may be there, but the stupidity isn't. Neither is the notion of your having the slightest clue what I think.

It's good for you that you chose not to quote any more of my post than what you did. That way, you can try to save face after having the rest of your crap shown to be so poorly thought out. You've failed, but hey, you can try.

 

Yea I can see something like that happening. He could be 'playing' for the Cosmos for a few years and never actually play a game in NASL in an effort to boost the clubs global profile before the launch. They might just parade him around city council meetings trying to get that stadium deal done.

 

Why?

I seriously doubt it .... Pele and Beckham right know don't move the needle THAT much in current World Football.

 

If the Cosmos were going to do that then they wouldn't have bothered with the NASL. The whole point was they were to be a real club before MLS instead of a traveling circus. That was the idea of the previous ownership. Grab a bunch of old names and sign them to your board(Pele, Cantona, Cobi Jones). Then tour around the world with a bunch of former stars that had nothing to do with the Cosmos. Then hope to sell some merchandise.

BTW, the Sunday World in Ireland is a notorious TABLOID. I wouldn't believe anything in it.