The more I peer at Roger Bennett’s look at the second coming of the second coming (as he puts it) of the New York Cosmos, the more I think the future plans of club chairman Seamus O’Brien may be the single most important—and scary—development in the modern game. It’s this section in particular that jumps off the page:
“We evaluated the NASL opportunity alongside the MLS opportunity and came to the conclusion that it was the better fit for the business we are in today,” [O’Brien} explained, referring to Major League Soccer’s restrictive single-entity structure, salary cap, central contract system and revenue share. “Simply put, in NASL we have the freedom to do whatever we need to in a way we would not have in MLS. Our goal is to own our own brand, media rights and player contracts.”
The MLS opportunity also came with a rumored $100 million price tag that was also a factor. “We realized we would be better off as owners by investing that $100 million capital in our own brand and owning it.”
There may be an intriguing back story here, perhaps involving behind doors talks with Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber (or not) to enter the league that didn’t work out in the Cosmos favour.
But I’m willing to take O’Brien on his word that the Cosmos brand was too valuable to submit to MLS’ cautious single entity set-up, and that competing in NASL may simply be a means to put the Cosmos in the soccer conversation before plans for what O’Brien calls a “global football model” come to fruition. If that’s the case, a future in MLS may never make sense for a club that feels its brand is valuable enough to retain at all costs, even exclusion from the American top flight.
If that’s the case, there’s an enormous contradiction in the presumption NASL, America’s “second division” (not really), could be the launch pad for NY Cosmos’ ‘global brand’, one which rest solely on nostalgia from the days when Pele played to a packed Giants stadium back in the late 70s and early 80s.
Real Madrid is Real Madrid because of its glorious history, which no doubt shored up its worldwide following. But it’s also Real Madrid because it plays in the Spanish first division, itself a storied league and among the best in Europe, and regularly competes with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia and others, and in the UEFA Champions League against the best of the best teams in Europe.
The NY Cosmos will play FC Edmonton and the Minnesota Stars in 2013.
Little wonder O’Brien therefore played up this “global football model.” But what will this look like? A series of sponsored tournaments against Bayern Munich and Manchester United in the Middle East? That’s a hard sell; to fans, if it looks like a friendly and it quacks like a friendly, it’s a friendly. For now, the domestic league is still for now the locus of competitive play in club soccer.
But as we’re beginning to learn, the brand tycoons, like the drivers behind the European Club Association, care little about football’s sacred cows. If moneyed interests believe “brand loyalty” supersedes the domestic tables in which these brands compete, football might return to its the time before the Football League, which turns 125 next year. That is, the period when clubs scheduled their own fixtures in an ad hoc way in order to bring in as much money as they could. And you thought football was merely attempting to re-invert the pyramid.
I’ve heard more insane ideas in my time (Qatar hosting a world cup…) but not many.
Using a division that, to the best of my knowledge, doesn’t even have a national TV contract to build your brand? With WHOM!?! The zero people who are going to be aware of your team outside the reach of whatever UHF station is going to be airing the games?
The Single-Entity structure isn’t great for franchises with a lot of money. Fair point. And they probably didn’t want to sign over their IP to MLS for a perfectly valid reason – namely, that they think they can sell retro Pele kits to people around the world. But that doesn’t mean that building a global brand off the NASL is in any way feasible.
Oh, right, I forgot, the Cosmos are already a global brand *snicker*
don’t see this working unless it prompts more money to be poured into other nasl teams and elevate the league above mls, otherwise they will just be a team that no matter what it does, there will always be an asterisk beside there accomplishments, and even success in the us open will be attributed to an influx of money. honestly, I dont see a winning situation, no matter the history people will not come to see the cosmos beat up on a league of second rate teams. this is just a blip on the radar of soccer and as far as i can see a huge mistake.
I’ll give him credit for having a go at it. I think MLS still needs a competitive push from the USL, even if the league is massively struggling right now.
I just find it ridiculous how much the league clings to its single entity model. It rewards cheapskates like Bob Kraft while punishing those that put anything extra into their clubs.
There was a time to be tight fisted with the finances, but you have to invest to make money as well. To me MLS now has this great opportunity in front of it, but is too scared to take it because of past experiences. Conditions might not be favorable forever, and I think they should strike while the time is right.
The Cosmos is like one of those buried oriental treasures found in old-timey adventure novels, where its possessor either turns into an imbecile or dies in mysterious circumstances.
Looks like negotiating tactics for their eventual MLS entry to me. They are saying they don’t need MLS, the same way Garber is saying he is considering other ownership groups for the 20th team.
Notice how O’Brien balks at the 100 million dollar franchise fee. It’s all standard negotiating tactics. Cosmos really want to end up in MLS, and Garber really wants them. They just have to haggle over the terms first. That’s all this is.
Bad move for old cosmos fans
Why is getting a football infrustructure in place and establishing a fanbase a bad move?
Thanks to Skiv for *really* pointing out what this looks and quacks like.
With every article Mr. Whittall writes about the Cosmos and the mistakes they’re making, he proves they’re doing the right thing:
*The Cosmos have more articles written about them on this blog space than any NASL club, including Canada’s own Edmonton FC.
*With the exception of Canadian clubs (natch) and the Galaxy (thanks DB23), I bet there have been more articles written on this blog about the Cosmos than any MLS club.
*The Cosmos have their own kit deal. No MLS side can claim that. If MLS is following the same model when they arrive, the Cosmos will have to forfeit for Adidas template hell. I’d love to see the numbers on kit sales vs clubs that are actually playing.
*Carl Robinson recently went on record as stating that when people heard he played footy in NYC he often had to offer the addendum, “No, the Red Bulls.”
*The only team in MLS with any brand awareness, the Galaxy, bought theirs by hooking up with “Brand Beckham” and additionally gained from a league that consistently bends, outright changes, and makes up rules to help them stay the flagship franchise.
*Fact is, the Cosmos are a stronger brand than 95% of actual clubs north of Mexico, maybe more. EVERYTHING about MLS contradicts what they’ve done to build awareness and buzz. Of course they’re going to continue down their own path until they’ve proven their point to everyone including Don Garber: the league needs the Cosmos more than the Cosmos need the league. Having LA is good; having an LA-NY rivalry is GOLD.
SB