NASL is no longer considering suing US Soccer for anti-trust over division 1 status

What do you expect from a league with strong ties to Traffic Sports, as well as the corruption ties with NYCosmos ownership as well?

 

Four words...

New. York. Cosmos.

(again)

 

It was a bad idea from the start. As far as I'm concerned, there will always be only one NASL & one NY Cosmos!

 

and trying to compete with MLS when they couldn't even average half of what they average.

 

They can't just merge. The two leagues are organized completely differently. USL, the league, is owned by NuRock Soccer Holdings. The teams pay for franchise rights but only have a limited amount of say in how the league is run. NASL is owned by the teams and other investors. The teams effectively run the league. The NASL teams could apply for membership in USL but they can't "merge."

 

Well whatever you want to call it. I seem to recall former MISL teams going to the NPSL back around 1992/93 just by changing their team names. I'm sure things can be worked out and anyway there won't be many other choices if the NASL folds....

 

The name... Cosmos.

 

Yep. There were only 4 inter-conference regular season games in all of USL this year:

St. Louis @ Louisville, Louisville @ St. Louis
Cincinnati @ St. Louis, St. Louis @ Cincinnati

That was it. St. Louis who moved from the East in 2015 to the West in 2016 got to keep playing Louisville and Cincinnati.

 

Ha! It doesn't matter, because next year, NEXT YEAR, will be the year the Cosmos finally wins the US Open Cup and gains entry to the CCL. Then it's a victory, off to the Club World Cup and world champion status! MLS will be groveling to accept them then! It's all going according to plan! Just taking a little longer than expected, that's all...

(Seriously, that was, like, their plan for hitting the big time out of the 2nd division.)

------RM

 

I can't help but notice that the NASL is hitting a wall at about the same age as MLS was when it nearly fell into the abyss. What's interesting is that the J-League and A-League had severe issues at just about the same age. It seems that if you start a new soccer league, you're going to hit a financial hill about 5-7 years in, and you'll either make it over it and survive for the long term, or fail and die.

------RM

 

So who will be the NASL's Anschutz? Or Garber?

 

I honestly think they already had their Garber his name was David Downs and if they had done what he had planned they'd be in much better shape now, but you know he was about creating a stable and healthy D2 not about competing with MLS.

 

It certainly was the plan.

The problem was that in order to pull it off they were going to have to put together a team which is better than any MLS or Liga MX team so they'd have a legit shot at winning the CCL.

Not impossible but it would cost a lot of money, particularly since you have to pay extra to get stars to come play for a second div team.

And then what? A team that good would run away with the NASL. No point in even showing up. Which doesn't sell tix, doesn't fill stadiums, doesn't do jack for anybody.

Except cost a fortune.

So you have a $25 million roster in div 2 which means you're losing what, $20 million a year?

It was always one of those " we didn't think this through" deals and finally morphed into a fantasy about MLS being "forced" by the media and fans to take them in on their own terms.

When it became clear that that was NEVER going to happen, the whole enterprise was exposed as basically making no sense whatsoever.

 

This absolutely caught them off guard, honestly caught everyone off guard. I still remember people on these boards claiming that NYCFC would be a disaster ( how can you put a team in NYC when locals hardly support RBNY) but I remember seeing the marketing and seeing how hard they came after the locals. After about the second month of the season last year I realized that the Cosmos would be irrelevant unless they got the Belmont stadium and that honestly was a long shot at best.

 

Damn, Tulsa sucks

 

You're like, the worst

 

Along with the fact they've done a great job marketing NYCFC. Cosmos probably thought the name would sell itself, but it's not the brand that matters, it's how you market the brand.

 

Their overvaluation of the Cosmos name is kinda the root of all their problems, I just hope they stick around and not fold the team although I'm concerned they'll just fold it and try and sell the brand for the highest dollar possible.

 

A brand with value that declines every year as the old Cosmos are forgotten and current teams continue to press into public consciousness. Really, does anyone think "New York Cosmos" brand has value approaching that of "Los Angeles Galaxy"? The rights aren't worthless, because an improbable third NY team or maybe a buyer of NYRB may want something with inherent value, but it's not what some assumed it would be.

 

Though they did draw a small group of delusional fanboys who were convinced that Sebastian Guenzatti was a MLS Best XI level player, and that Guenzatti's Uruguayan 2nd division pedigree was a level that MLS didn't have enough cachet to get.

 

These guys on an Edmonton Soccer podcast brought up a interesting point.

With CSA(Canadian Soccer Association) being so pissy about independent Canadian teams being in USL, Does Ottawa Fury, or Edmonton, even get scantioned to even join the USL. Coupled with the fact that the CSA wants to try and pull together a league of their own in a year or two, would USL want them if there's a possibility they're bolting for another league in 1-2 years.

 

No one cares what the CSA thinks

 

Maybe they brought this up, I don't have time to listen to the podcast, but here would be my rationale the other way.

If the USL gets certified as a Division 2 league in the U.S. then that removes the official CSA opposition. Canadian teams are allowed to be in D2 U.S. leagues, just not D3. If the NASL goes away, then the CSA would surely want Ottawa and Edmonton to stay active in preparation for the new Canadian league if possible.

It is hard to imagine the USL turning them down. One year could turn into several or forever based on past experiences in trying to start a Canada-wide league.