The artice also says that the Cosmos have ceased operations, and released all players. PLayers have been paid through November but will not be paid for December since they are no longer part of the team. The staff has not been paid yet. All "according to Sources." So make of that what you will. Doesn't sound very promising though..........
....so they have no assets other than the Cosmos brand. Correct? That brand, in a minor league situation, with no stadium revenue control, is going to help offset...or add to the debt, that some ownership group is being asked take on. Any thoughts on that one? Bueller? Anyone? My goodness, it never ends. I sincerely hope these sugar daddies are out there. I really do. Have been saying it for decades. I want them to exist. I really do. All I have seen are a guy named Lamar, and a guy named Phil....and they didn't FK around when faced with the abyss. Hell, the old A League debates on just needing a half dozen billionaires to compete with MLS were fun, and far fetched, but even they are far more reasonable than this. You know what yo say to someone beneath you on the ladder who just doesn't get it? IT IS WHAT IT IS. Old cliche but effective. This is what it is. It is truly white knight type of stuff and when it comes to soccer I have seen two.
Duane Rollins @24thminute 5h5 hours agoToronto, Ontario Three independent sources have confirmed to me that Cosmos players and staff have been told that the club is ceasing operations. Duane Rollins@24thminute Also been told that the fate of the league will be decided Monday or Tuesday.
A second difference is that NASL owners have an alternative to staying the course and folding. MLS owners didn't really have the option of joining USL when MLS almost shutdown. A third difference is that USSF now has rules that prevents a single owner from owning multiple teams in the same league. If that rule existed when MLS almost shutdown it wouldn't have survived..
Yup...I bet if NASL was the only game in town the USSF would let these guys do whatever they needed to survive. The wild west days are over. Would there be enough money and will in NASL even to do that? Sela didn't do it for one team. This would be a great time for some to actually learn about the history of the game here instead of getting bent out of shape by folks like myself or kenn who actually lived it. We are like we are for a reason. I have seen balance sheets. Talk about scary.
Technically the rule is they can, but they have to be separate entities with a plan to in place to find another owner.
I went to an FC New York (remember them?) game at Belson once... I was glad I was comped a ticket because the face value was $25. Back in 2011 $25 for a USL ticket was INSANE. It's still a bit crazy, but not as insane as it was 5 years ago. The Cosmos would never make a go of it there, even in the USL. I was honestly laughing my @$$ off when the NASL held the "Soccer Bowl" there last month. That place might be OK for NCAA (but only just), there's no way it's suitable for anything higher than PDL. Seriously.
Aside from Raul and Senna they built those teams on the more pricier side. I remember the old Scorpions owner complaining about the Cosmos paying their leading goalscorer a lot more to join them instead of resigning which leads me to believe they may have paid more then the other teams to their normal players. They also paid IIRC their reserve players in the NPSL unlike many other teams in the league, so those expenses have come home to roost unfortunately.
Hmmmm. I remember USSF issuing a directive in 2014 or 2015 giving leagues until the end of the year to end multiple owners. I seem to recall there being some consternation because it gave MLS longer to implement than USL and NASL.. Did that not go in, or is my memory faulty?
This also marks the very first time Duane has gotten three independent sources before reporting something.
That was the 18 in, 12 out schedule, right? Did you know the AL considered not splitting? I thought it would just have made sense and they would have both split at the same time, but the AL dragged it out a bit. Given I live in a western market and my favorite team is from an east market, I am happy for this.
If they want a D2 stadium in the city, they have a choice between Randall's Island, Coffey Field, Columbia’s Wien Stadium or the Cyclones' MCU Park. The last one is the only realistic option, but they'd probably need to fund a new surface.
So, in other words, you would be OK if Indy went away. Because without the owner there is no Indy Eleven.
Here's the thing that I'm wondering IF Indy folds (and God I hope it doesn't) wouldn't someone want to put another team there ASAP? I mean obviously they have people who care and will support a soccer team so they'd have something sooner then later I'd think. I just hope their fans don't have to go through that.
I'm a little surprised how people are wondering why these NASL owners would want to fight on. To me it seems obvious. These owners bought into the NASL because they like it's model of doing business. If they had wanted to join the USL, they would have joined the USL from the beginning. The problem is having ENOUGH owners who believe in the NASL model. If it does end tomorrow, Nashville was one of the first glaring signs of trouble. The owner was courted by both leagues and chose USL (as a stepping stone to MLS - because all new USL owners say that). What I found most interesting was the part about how they feel they're being squeezed out in an effort by MLS/USL to put them out of business.
They were also paying MLS reserve players starters money to play for them (Moffat, & Mendes) and brought in some international players as well who paid well (Ayozi, Duk, Niko K, Arrango, Guanzatti, etc.). They were paying above market value for most of their players.
For expansion teams, sure. But for people who bought existing teams like Malik and the RailHawks or Edwards and Tampa Bay, the league and business model was almost certainly secondary to buying the local soccer team.