In a years time i really think Seamus Obrien will change his tune about MLS - right now he is just playing the part and its kind of convincing people that the long term plan is NASL - which i just can not see. Garbers comments the day of the NASL announcement speaks volumes if you ask me - he is cool with Downs and he comes out and says oh the Cosmos are still a contender for MLS. As for Obrien - he is going to keep talking up the NASL because that is what he has to do. Its like when you start dating a new girl and you know it probably is not a long term thing. Are you going to tell her "Hey - your amazing for now...but the girl im going to marry will be better" - do you say that?
Maybe it isn't worth it to the Cosmos to join a single-entity league. On the other hand, I doubt that it would be worth it to MLS to abandon the model that has helped to keep it alive for 16 years in order to attract a team whose previous incarnation folded after 15 years. However, I agree with Nick that it is all just posturing anyway.
I have a friend who once told a chick that she was nothing more than a "chubby stepping stone". I never said he was a good guy. True story. Just a tangent...please carry on.
well you yourself have said you would like single entity to be gone sooner rather than later. MLS shouldn't abandon single entity because of the Cosmos. They should abandon it because its no longer necessary. It's actually hurting the product on the field.
I am extremely upset by this. It is MLS team or bust. The Cosmos have just signed on to be a second rate after thought. They will sell some t-shirts because some kid will say ohhh cool cosmos. That's all this is about. If the Cosmos brain trust has any drive or ambition, they would have waited for the right deal to come along. They can make Garber cave once he sees the Cosmo money is green. Bloomy is on his way out because he could never deliver on the football paradise that he promised. Seriously, walk outside and ask 50 people what the NASL is and you will get blank look after blank look. More people know about AYSO.
I think this article in SoccerByIves has a more clear window the Cosmos ownership and their intentions without any rhetoric thrown in. It seems more straight-forward. http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_...tability-rise-with-clubs-return-to-field.html This first quote struck me as interesting: This appears to diverge from the early indications that it was Sela itself that owned the Cosmos. Being a sports marketing firm who, while earning a revenue of 40 mil per year isn't anything to sneeze at, didn't seem to have the capital to do many of the things that the club claimed that they would be able to. It also places Sela in a role more natural to their particular business model as facilitators in the deal rather than actual players. So the team is apparently actually half-owned by wealthy clients of theirs in Saudi Arabia. It raises their potential capital by quite a bit, but also raises the chances that they might be willing to blow insane amounts of money in a D2 league with players who aren't worth the money. The key wording being "initially". Now this interview highlights many of the same points that he recently said the other day, except in this particular setting he used the caveat that NASL was only preferable in their current situation. Now his last statements that made such an uproar seem to me to be only half the plan, and that much being released as it was for the sake of making headlines and perhaps a play at posturing. But this, to me, seems the more measured plan. NASL allows them the freedom to build themselves as an entity apart from MLS, while MLS itself busies itself with acquiring a stadium. Now if this is truly "wealthy Saudi families" rather than Sela itself owning the Cosmos, then they almost certainly have the money (as well as the insane Eastern tendancy to overbid for everything) to win the 20th spot. The question is do they have the will. In light of that entire quote, it seems to me that the parts of this entire statement that have lit such a fire on this forum may have been largely taken out of context. I'd be interested in seeing a more complete transcript on the second interview bc they were the same points, without alot of the supporting insights, as the ones that are laid out here. In it's entirety this definitely speaks to wanting to be in MLS and having a realistic goal of how to get there.
Right - it is Sela and Seamus O Brien - who is part of World Sport Group http://www.worldsportgroup.com/ This kind of came clear back in November that Sela was not the only owner when Obriens name came up the first time. The rest of your post i think points out key parts and buzz words. For some reason, right now he wants NASL for whatever reason. He talks about not throwing in 100 million RIGHT NOW and I think that is because they dont have the stadium solution. They dont want to throw that money towards MLS and playing in Hofstra, however they want to get the team playing games again. So right now, they can spend a little bit of that 100 million and maybe make money in return, while growing the brand and team and attracting more investors to help throw in 100 million for the franchise and stadium fees.
What I said was that I hope the point at which the powers that be decide that single-entity is no longer necessary will be soon. If those powers that be decide that MLS is not yet at that point, I will be disappointed, but I will accept their decision. I don't know enough about business to judge one way or the other. You probably are right that single-entity does hurt the product on the field today, but maybe today isn't what they're worried about. MLS, unlike the old NASL, has always been about the long term. I agree with you that if they abandoned single-entity just to attract the Cosmos, they would be doing it for the wrong reason.
I don't know what you have in mind, but if it's the premiership or some other league with clubs who can't even dream of breaking even, you've got it all wrong. I'm not in love with single entity either, but one thing is clear from experience, a highly regulated financial fair play/ cap kind of system is vital.
There's never going to be a single moment where it's abandoned all at once. It's going to be disassembled piece-by-piece as needed as they are doing right now. It's simply the smartest way to go. 50 years from now we may see a point where the single-entity no longer exists but I doubt that anyone will be able to point to a single action that took it apart. It will be a series of moves that opens the autonomy of the ownership groups. I don't see this happening all at once.
http://www.lijsoccer.com/RssFeed.aspx?Id=8685&like=true Not sure if there's any real substance to this, but it can't help the Cosmos' efforts to get into MLS; I wonder how the NASL will react.
"The audit found that a contract for commercial rights with World Sports Group and its subsidiary World Sports Football were no-bid contracts that were ''considerably undervalued.'' A $14 million payment from companies with stakes in WSG, Al Baraka Investment and Development Co. and International Sports Events Company, was made to the AFC for the ''personal use of its president,'' the report said." WSG reputation is damaged by this report. My guess is that they will have problems getting into MLS. Perhaps they will sell the Cosmos to another group.
because he is a Red Bullshit supporter that's why, they have nothing better to do, maybe they should focus on filling that metal bed pan they call a stadium and deal with there own ownership issues before commenting on The New York Cosmos and there owners. Can't remember the last time Dieter Mindshits showed up to the Cathedral !
Or maybe it's because the MLS owners, who are very wealthy and mostly pretty conservative, don't seem like the type to accept someone into their ranks who may have some involvement in an international bribery/corruption scandal. But you can see it your way if you want.
I really don't want to bring politics into this thread, but seriously? Wealthy people against bribery and corruption? You live in America, man. An in an election year!The wealthy are behind all sorts of bribery and corruption as we speak.
How does WSG have involvement? Have you actually read the audit? The only mention of World Sports Group directly is the negotiated Master Rights Agrement (MRA) with the Asian Football Confernderation (AFC) which was for $1 Billion. It is speculated that the contract is undervalued based on other deals of its kind in other parts of the world. Other complanies who had investors and minority stakeholders in WSG paid money to the AFC's account in 2008 and 2009. Form there along with other moneies, the AFC president and finance director missapropriated it by transfering AFC funds to their personal accounts. WSG isn't involved it the bribery. If anything all they did was grease some hands in 2008 through a minority ownership's seperate business to get a better deal on the MRA in 2009. Welcome to doing busirness in the middle east. Also, since when do weathly conservatives give a shit about corruption and self dealing! LOL http://www.eurasiareview.com/23072012-bin-hammam-audit-opens-pandoras-box-analysis/
What is being alleged is a soccer-related bribe. That is a lot different than the usual greasing the wheel that goes on in the general business world. This could be problematic with respect to joining MLS.
Thank god Red Bull got Cahill, maybe now they can win something in the next year or 2 before the Cosmos swallow there NY fan base in one big gulp !