VYING FOR SLICE OF APPLE

Cosmos want to compete with MLS for footing in NYC

Can New York City, the most crowded sports town in the world, support three professional soccer clubs? The New York Cosmos believe so. The Cosmos, who planted the roots of New York’s soccer fandom some 35 years ago, unveiled a lucrative sponsorship agreement recently with Emirates Airlines that puts the airline’s logo on the team’s jersey. Soccer icon and honorary Cosmos President Pelé unveiled the team’s kit in midtown Manhattan, telling news reporters it was a big day for the future of the team.

“It’s wonderful to be part of such a pre- eminent soccer family,” the 72year- old Brazilian said.

Last week the club announced home games would be broadcast on One World Sports ( available on Dish network) and signed midfielder Marcos Senna, who played the last 11 seasons with Villarreal of La Liga, Spain’s top league. The 36- year- old has been captain of Villarreal and Spain’s national team.

The Cosmos will play their first game Aug. 3, nearly 30 years after the club disappeared. The team will play in the North American Soccer League, the second- tier league that sits a level below Major League Soccer. Like the Cosmos, the NASL is also in the stage of trying to reboot, having been revived in 2010.

The news of the Emirates sponsorship grabbed international attention for the Cosmos and the budding NASL, as the Dubai- based airline is already a major player in global soccer, with sponsorship deals with AC Milan, Paris Saint- Germain, Arsenal FC and Real Madrid.

The news carried local significance as well. The Cosmos and the NASL sit in the shadow cast by MLS, the dominant soccer brand in North America. While MLS has two national broadcast deals and attracts almost 19,000 fans a game, the NASL brings in about 4,600 on average.

Last month MLS scored a victory in New York when it announced the creation of New York City FC, by a partnership between Manchester City and the New York Yankees. MLS officials lauded the alliance for creating a crosstown rival for the Red Bulls, who have played unopposed in the New York City area since the

Erik Stover, Cosmos chief operating officer

Soccer legend Pelé, honorary president for the new Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, was all smiles in announcing the team’s lucrative sponsorship with Emirates Airlines. league’s creation in 1996.

Noticeably absent from any MLS comments, however, was any mention of play against the Cosmos.

Bill Peterson, commissioner of the NASL, described the league’s relationship with MLS as cordial.

“What ( MLS) does doesn’t affect us, and what we do doesn’t affect them,” Peterson said. “We don’t make any of our decisions based on what they do.”

The two leagues have publicly maintained their distance. Earlier this year, MLS announced a player development partnership with the Division III United Soccer League, which effectively created a funnel for talent that bypassed NASL.

“We have no desire to be anyone’s minor league,” Peterson said. “We definitely have no interest in developing players for other leagues.”

In the late 1970s the Cosmos regularly filled the Meadowlands with 80,000 fans and fielded a roster that included Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and other international stars. But the demise of the old NASL in 1984

“A lot of fans remember us from the old days. ... We’re not going to be Arsenal tomorrow, but we think this gives us international reach.”

spelled the end of the Cosmos.

A new ownership group led by businessman Paul Kemsley revived the brand in 2010 with a promise to join MLS. But lavish spending and shaky financial backing forced Kemsley out a year later. In 2011 the team’s ownership, Sela Sport, appointed European soccer veteran Seamus O’Brien to revive the brand again. But this time the budget was smaller with goals more modest. In 2012 the Cosmos aligned with NASL. Earlier this year the club announced a plan to build a $ 400 million stadium at Belmont racetrack in Elmont.

But like MLS, the Cosmos are trying to win over young, affluent soccer fans in the New York region. Erik Stover, chief operating officer for the Cosmos, said the brand’s 30- year history and underground vibe could give the team an advantage.

“A lot of fans remember us from the old days, and we’re going to honor that,” Stover said. “We’re not going to be Arsenal tomorrow, but we think this gives us international reach.”

Stover, who was formerly the managing director of the Red Bulls, said the Cosmos held another advantage over MLS teams because of the NASL’s lack of a salary cap. The team, he said, can sign short- term deals with international players and accept other stars on loan, which MLS teams can’t always do because of commercial restrictions.

“Commercially, we can think like a global soccer club,” Stover said. “We can do deals without a ton of restrictions.”

BEBETO MATTHEWS, AP