http://www.socceramerica.com/article/44369/cosmos-rebirth-runs-into-trouble.html Normally I wouldn't link Gardner's stories, but this was informative.
I doubt it. I saw Curtis Martin at a Red Bulls game first-hand, and recall reading something about him possible getting involved in ownership. So it's not hard to connect those dots.
I really don't care for the people at the SoHo office with the Cosmos name, but I badly want New York's MLS team to have that branding. Hopefully a responsible ownership group can emerge and buy it from them.
Connecting the dots in my head... Chuck Blazer quitting CONCACAF and gets involved in NY2. Saudi money behind the Cosmos. Seems a perfect fit, FIFA EXCO power (he has 3 more years) gets together with lots of money for new franchise provides great soccer credibility. They do however need some political pull in NY, not sure if Curtis Martin can bring that.
I'm of two minds on this one. Having the Cosmos back would be huge for the league, in that the Cosmos are the most recognizable American soccer brand there is.. Having the Cosmos come back would be a huge media boost maybe large enough to rival Beckham. However, the Cosmos brand was built on being a super club. Clearly that is going to be an issue with MLS's salary cap and other limitations. If the Cosmos don't have the right owners and aren't able to successfully navigate MLS's restrictions all that media attention could turn into a lot of negayive press for the league. What is apparent is that the current owners of the Cosmos brand are not the right owners to build a successful MLS franchise. They strike me as flippers. That bought the brand just so that they could rebuild it and then sell it to someone who really was interested in a MLS team.
Makes sense. Here is my question: Would you guys rather have World Cup 2022 in the USA or a permanent second franchise in NY? Because it seems Chuck Blazer and his corruption was in cahoots with Qatar but now could be in cahoots with MLS.
i never thought a group that had PK was going to pass muster with Garber and the other owners. and i never particularly liked this ownership group. but i do like the Cosmos brand and think it would be a boon for the league if the 20th team had that branding ... BUT ONLY IF it was owned/operated by a good ownership group ... and the current group that owns that brand and is seeking an MLS expansion franchise is not that kind of group imho. so i hope that some good ownership group can be found for NY20 and that they can buy out/absorb the other group so that NY20 can be branded NY Cosmos. we laugh at the "nostaliga" of it sometimes but that kind of instant already established brand recognition and history would make a serious impact and be a whole new sort of expansion team. MLS can only be helped from a marketing and pr and buzz perspective if they add the NY Cosmos to the league ... for better or worse they are the most significant single team in US soccer history and i'd personally like to see that name back in our US professional league ... just not with these current owners of that brand name in charge.
After 16 years of MLS do people still think this is the case? I.e., it you polled a random 1000 Americans to name American soccer teams are people more likely to say New York Cosmos as opposed to LA Galaxy or Seattle Sounders? I personally doubt it but I'm on the west coast so maybe I don't know the reality.
the fact that it is still even debatable after the team being defunct for so long tells you everything you need to know about the strength of the cosmos brand domestically. and world wide? it isn't even a contest ...
I think for an older demographic the Cosmos brand is big. But I think in the important demographic, 18-35 males, the name does not matter all that much. Maybe instead we should call them the NY Metros. That is an old brand from the past that might have some cachet.
If I were the Red Bulls i would definitely buy the rights to the name and then just sit on it. A second new york team, named the Cosmos, could have a meteoric impact on the Red Bulls fan base. Especially the longer we're toiling in mediocrity. I think any other NY2 team is far less damaging.
For the media that would be writing about the expansion club, I'd say the Cosmos are as recognizable as any current MLS team. For random schmuck on the street? If they are mid-30s or older, I might be tempted to give the Cosmos the nod.
To me, the Cosmos name is as associated with failure and ineptitude thanks to the recent shenanigans as it is with the halcyon days of the 1970s. These guys have been truly awful. Now you arguably have a scenario where the current iteration - the one that matters most for attempting to get into MLS - outweighs the old version except to casual fans and folks mostly interested in the brand name. But it isn't a brand name MLS would want, it's an NY2 franchise, and right now the Cosmos crew is not in anyone's interest. Ownership group first, then brand. This obsession with brand first, then ownership if it can be cobbled together perplexes me.
I think this paragraph is very apt. I just got back from a trip to England and I found an entire rack of Cosmos gear for sale in multiple sporting goods stores in both London and Bristol.