NASL Files Federal Antitrust Lawsuit Against US Soccer

Discussion in 'MLS: News & Analysis' started by Knave, Sep 19, 2017.

  1. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes and they put in a bid for the location which caused consternation among fans.
     
  2. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    But the Islanders have always been a Long Island team and their attendances have never been that great. The attraction of New York City is that they play in New York City (or did :p).
     
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  3. Yoshou

    Yoshou Fan of the CCL Champ

    May 12, 2009
    Seattle
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And staying at YS is causing consternation with their minority owner and the fans don't seem overly happy about it either.
     
  4. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    True, including me. But if rather then take their time and find somewhere in The Bronx than relocate an hour away.
     
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  5. FoxBoro 143

    FoxBoro 143 Member+

    Jan 18, 2004
    MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Cosmos stadium failed not because of attendance, but the political folks did some research on who was behind the proposal. The backers were shady and mysterious folks. Ambitious politicians steer clear of those types of people.
     
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  6. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Who was considered shady? Sela Sports seems quite open about ownership.

    None of the 4 proposals submitted were considered satisfactory as they didn't create enough jobs.

    “The Belmont Park RFP has been canceled in order to consider economic development and job creation opportunities beyond the scope of the original request,” said ESD [Empire State Development] spokesman Jason Conwall.
     
  7. falvo

    falvo Member+

    Mar 27, 2005
    San Jose & Florence
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Needs to improve his Italian. Never heard of an Italian named Krause. His family must be from the Südtirol region where they speak German....
     
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  8. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Q: Krause isn't very Italian-sounding... I'm assuming it's on your mom's side?

    A: It's funny; when I was dating my wife, she asked me the very same question... I told her well, at least it ends in a vowel! It's my mother's family -- my great-grandmother and great-grandfather emigrated from Palermo, Sicily -- but so much of my life has had an Italian bent to i I got engaged to my wife in Italy, I got married to my wife in Italy... it's the heritage that I've gravitated towards.

    https://www.espn.com/soccer/blog-ma...espn-about-what-it-means-to-invest-in-serie-a
     
  9. Darkwing McQuack

    Darkwing McQuack BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 11, 2011
    Morrisville, PA
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  10. DanGerman

    DanGerman Member+

    Aug 28, 2014
    New York City
    Club:
    New York City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
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  11. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    He's probably right about suing his lawyers. He was laughed out of CAS. But for every $ he spends how much is USSF spending?
     
  12. Doogh

    Doogh Member+

    Oct 5, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I can't wrap my head how Peppe Pinton thought that running youth camps and selling the Cosmos brand to a grifter like Paul Kemsley was better than joining MLS.

    Now the brand is losing more in legal fees than actually playing good soccer.

    What a joke.
     
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  13. DanGerman

    DanGerman Member+

    Aug 28, 2014
    New York City
    Club:
    New York City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    To be fair Pepe didn't have any say about joining MLS. They had been brought by Sela sports and Kemsley. They seriously miscalculated by not joining by the way. You can't say they're in a better position then NYCFC with regards to NYC soccer relevancy. They'll also have to contend with Queensboro next season and they're going to play at Citi field and then move into a Pre fab SSS in Jamaica queens. The Cosmos talk about finding they're own place a priority but they're being outmanoeuvred by a non-existent USL club.
     
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  14. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    To join MLS you have to be a billionaire/demi-billionaire or part of a consortium of the same. Pepe Pinton wasn't even a millionaire.

    He had as much chance of being part of an MLS franchise ownership group as I have of playing for United
     
  15. tomásbernal

    tomásbernal Member+

    Sep 4, 2007
    Club:
    Portland Timbers
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Lucky for you there are about a thousand "Uniteds" at dozens of different levels all around the world! Surely you could play for one of them.
     
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  16. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    He was courting the Wilpons (Mets owners) at one point.

    “It’s interesting and exciting opportunity. We’re bullish on the opportunity with the Cosmos alone or partnering them with others. Hopefully we can capture some of the past nostalgia and more importantly create a rival for the Red Bulls.’’
    - Don Garber

    Unfortunately they were duped by Bernie Madoff and lost $700 million. They also got duped in a second ponzi scheme.

    "We took a step back, [and] we’re no longer in frank discussions with the Wilpon family,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said Thursday night. “But I believe we’ll get back on track at some other time. It’s just not something that’s happening at this time.”
     
  17. Doogh

    Doogh Member+

    Oct 5, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #4342 Doogh, Nov 14, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2020
    John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick considered buying the rights of Cosmos, but they settled with MetroStars. I think it was Peppe's reluctancy of buying into MLS structure at the time.
     
  18. falvo

    falvo Member+

    Mar 27, 2005
    San Jose & Florence
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    #4343 falvo, Nov 14, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2020
    When MLS launched they wanted nothing to do with the old NASL names and logos. In their infinite wisdom they headed Nike to brand their team names , logos and color schemes. Some of those early jerseys were hideous. The names like Clash , Burn and Mutiny didn’t really have much appeal either.

    Per wiki , John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick the name MetroStars was chosen in reference to Metromedia, the media company founded by Kluge, after Nike's original suggestion "MetroFlash" was rejected.

    Pepe Pinton probably wanted too much for the Cosmos name and logo. Anyway, I doubt MLS or Nike cared in 1995 and didn't want to spend the money on it. Doug Logan the first commissioner also knew nothing about the sport or the history soccer in this country. I doubt he ever saw an old NASL game.

    I do think Pinton came out ahead in the end though when he sold the name and image rights to Paul Kemsley, 13-14 years later. He said he didn't want to sell MLS the name because he didn't want the league to tarnish their name but I believe its more about money. I think he actually profited from hanging on to it and selling it later on.
     
  19. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thank Christ for that.

    That sounds like the name of a subway-based serial sex offender rather than a soccer club. Good Lord, that's hideous.
     
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  20. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    How could he have been reluctant to buy into MLS's structure? When MLS was launched he was running an Italian restaurant in Orangetown (population 50,000) in Rockland county. That's not exactly the kind of profile the MLS board of governors was looking for.

    Quite simply, he never had any money to buy into MLS (or the USL either) to begin with and only one asset, the Cosmos brand. That's the worst position to be in business: a single asset, no cash and only one possible buyer - who want's nothing to do with your asset. If the buyer is interested, you've got millions coming. If he isn't, you've got nothing.
     
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  21. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    You've obviously never seen me play! :p

    I mean, I agree that it's theoretically possible that there's a worse RB somewhere in the world. It's just that I've never seen one :(
     
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  22. The Irish Rover

    The Irish Rover Member+

    Aug 1, 2010
    Dublin
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    That's the Trump legal strategy. Launch a baseless lawsuit against a someone who's either not got the kind of money to afford good lawyers to defend himself and will shut up to stop you stop suing or is (you think) likely to settle to make an irritant go away.

    The problem for Rocco is that a) the USSF can afford top-notch lawyers and b) can't afford to lose
     
  23. Doogh

    Doogh Member+

    Oct 5, 2019
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #4348 Doogh, Nov 14, 2020
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2020
    As @falvo alluded to, he eventually sold the brand to Kemsley for a profit (and Kemsley used that brand to sell shirts and flip the brand rights to another buyer), so whatever sour grapes he had with MLS from ~1995 to 2009-ish was miscalculated.
     
  24. falvo

    falvo Member+

    Mar 27, 2005
    San Jose & Florence
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Yeah Pinton may have been Chinaglia’s stooge in the halcyon days of the New York Cosmos but he profited the most in the end.

    It’s actually a pretty smart 25 year or 1985 -2010 investment.

    I mean inheriting a name and logo for practically nothing in 85 and selling it for $2-$3 million (if not more) 2010 is pretty good isn’t it?
     
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  25. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    They can't really. Between not qualifying for the men's World Cup, Covid-19 and the lawsuits they're losing money.
     

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