New York Cosmos (2010)
The New York Cosmos is an American professional soccer club based in Uniondale, New York, that is an inactive member of the third-tier National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). The organization, established in August 2010, is a rebirth[3][4][5] of the original New York Cosmos (1970–1985) that played in the previous North American Soccer League, which was at the time the first division of North American soccer.
This article is about the new team formed in 2010. For the team that played in the original NASL, see New York Cosmos (1970–1985).
The club previously competed in the second-division North American Soccer League (NASL). With the NASL, the team won the Soccer Bowl Trophy in 2013, 2015, and 2016. They have been on hiatus since January 2021, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, though all the other teams in the league continued to play.[6][7]
In less than five full seasons of play before going on hiatus, the Cosmos garnered a legacy of success on the field and mismanagement, lawsuits, and unpaid bills off the field.[8][9][10][11]
Supporters[edit]
Current[edit]
At the time of their hiatus, the Cosmos had two supporters groups:[111] La Banda del Cosmos, a barra brava for Latin American fans,[112] and The Cross Island Crew, primarily for fans on Long Island.[113][114] The Cross Island Crew was founded as "Sagan's Army", in a reference to Carl Sagan, but re-branded in December 2013.[115]
Former[edit]
The original supporters group was the Borough Boys Supporters Club, formed in 2007 to lobby MLS Commissioner Don Garber for a club based in New York City.[17] After Kemsley's group bought the Cosmos name in late 2009, the Borough Boys became their first supporters group, believing that the Cosmos represented "the best choice for MLS expansion", and remained with the club even after New York City FC was announced as the twentieth MLS club in May 2013.[116]
In June 2017, the Borough Boys' podcast/website This is Cosmos Country announced that they would no longer be covering the Cosmos, following a dispute with the club.[117] In an interview with Empire of Soccer, they raised questions about the ownership of the Cosmos, including wondering whether Sela Sport still had an interest.[80] After the EoS article was published, TICC founder Luis Hernandez received a phone call from Cosmos Senior Vice President Joe Barone. Barone complained about TICC's coverage of the Cosmos, and claimed to have himself received an angry phone call from Commisso, then in Saudi Arabia for a friendly match. Hernandez said "We feel we just have to walk away. They're trying to bully us. We love the team. We're fans. We support the on-field product. We're behind [Head Coach Giovanni Savarese], his players and staff. It's an unfortunate situation. None of us want to be part of this anymore."[117] Commisso later denied making such a call to Barone, saying "Somebody lied."[118] As of late 2017, the Borough Boys no longer had "any official relationship" with the club.[119]
Broadcasting[edit]
The Cosmos were originally broadcast by One World Sports, a network that was run by the team's chairman Seamus O'Brien,[120] and live or tape-delayed on SportsNet New York. The majority of the games featured the on-air team of play-by-play announcer JP Dellacamera and Janusz Michallik as the color analyst. One World Sports also produced Cosmos Classics, an original series featuring historic Cosmos matches from the 1970s and 1980s.[121]
On March 16, 2017, coinciding with the team's new ownership, and the sale of One World Sports to Eleven Sports, the Cosmos announced a new broadcast deal with MSG Network and WPIX-TV.[122] Ed Cohen and Jonathan Yardley handled play-by-play, alongside Sal Rosamilia and Janusz Michallik as color analysts.
Youth academy[edit]
Following its foundation in August 2010, the Cosmos entered into an arrangement with youth development organization Blau Weiss Gottschee in which the Gottschee teams would play under the name New York Cosmos Academy. A few weeks later, the club entered into a similar partnership with the Los Angeles Futbol Club in Pasadena, California, to run a west-coast youth academy called "Cosmos Academy West". While Cosmos Academy West existed, the Cosmos Academy based in Queens was called "Cosmos Academy East".
This approach of sponsoring established youth organizations, and having their teams play in Cosmos branding, was initially successful. The Cosmos were able to capitalize on decades of youth development. At the end of 2010, Cosmos Academy West was ranked by Soccer America as the third best boys' club in the United States and the top boys' club in California.[127] The Spring 2011 roster for the US under-17 team included three Cosmos Academy East players, more at the time than any MLS team academy.[35][128]
The Cosmos Academy eventually competed at various levels of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, fielding teams in the under-9 to under-18 age groups.[129] An under-23 Cosmos side was accepted into the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the United States soccer pyramid, in May 2011, and was expected to join for the 2012 season. In preparation for this it played exhibition matches against existing PDL clubs during 2011, coached by Savarese.[130] However, it did not take part in the 2012 PDL season.[131]
Cracks quickly started to form between the Cosmos and their youth soccer partners. Los Angeles Futbol Club abruptly terminated its contract with the Cosmos in February 2011, with no public explanation. Bleacher Report called the cancellation "embarrassing" for the Cosmos and "a poor demonstration of the (Cosmos’s) commitment to grassroots and youth soccer".[132][133] Following the loss of LAFC, the Cosmos tried to develop a new Cosmos Academy West on their own, but within months had slashed funding for the project. Cosmos Academy West officially disbanded in August 2011, and its operations were folded into those of MLS club Chivas USA.[134][135]
On November 8, 2011, Blau Weiss Gottschee filed a lawsuit against the Cosmos, claiming that the Cosmos had failed to make any of its contractually-obligated payments and that as a result Gottschee had been forced to restore the tuition, transport and training fees which players had been required to pay before the 2010 deal. At the time the suit was filed, the Cosmos reportedly owed Blau Weiss Gottschee $210,000 in missed payments.[136] Gotchee later joined New York City FC's development league.[137]
In fall of 2014, the Cosmos announced that recently signed Raúl González Blanco would, upon his retirement from playing, assume a full-time role overseeing a new Cosmos academy which scheduled to begin operations in 2015.[138] In December 2015, US Soccer gave the Cosmos approval to begin developing youth players, granting the club initial approval to field a U-12 team.[139] However, when Raúl retired in that year, he instead took a position with La Liga, overseeing its offices in the United States,[140] and his son Hugo went into the New York City FC academy.[141]
In May 2020, the Cosmos indefinitely suspended their youth academy. Then-Chief Operating Officer Erik Stover said "At this moment, we simply don't have a clear development pathway for the players. That being said, we don’t think it is fair to ask parents and players to continue to invest their time and money in the academy system".[142]
Attempted Major League Soccer expansion[edit]
At the time of the Cosmos' return in 2010, MLS was made up of 16 franchises, with three new teams set to join over the following two seasons: Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Portland Timbers in 2011, and the Montreal Impact in 2012. Newsday reported in late April 2011 that the league was committed to placing the next franchise in the New York borough of Queens if a deal could be reached.[143] Terry Byrne said in July 2011 that the stadium was the biggest factor regarding the Cosmos' accession to MLS. "The league wants us to demonstrate that we are capable of taking a stadium [area] and building a stadium," he said.[144]
Working alongside New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Cosmos sought a location within New York City's boroughs rather than a surrounding city (which would distinguish them from the Red Bulls, based in Harrison, New Jersey). Over a dozen locations around Queens, The Bronx, and Manhattan were marked out in March 2011,[144][145] narrowed down to four sites by the end of July; two in Queens and one each in Brooklyn and "uptown" Manhattan.[144]
Apart from the stadium, an issue regarding MLS membership was the franchise fee that the Cosmos would have to pay to the league. When the club first announced its intention to join, the price stood at $40 million, but by the end of July 2011 the fee for any expansion team playing in New York had risen to $70 million, a 57% rise from the entry price paid by Montreal. By the end of 2011, the Cosmos decided not to apply for an MLS franchise after all, in part because they rejected the league's single entity structure, and because they did not want to relinquish marketing rights to their name and logo.[5][51][10]
Following the Cosmos' decision not to apply, Major League Soccer announced in May 2013 that their 20th franchise would be a different New York City–based team, New York City FC, a new team co-owned by Premier League team Manchester City and Major League Baseball team the New York Yankees.[146] Cosmos chairman Seamus O'Brien, however, noted that London had fourteen professional soccer teams, so New York City could "handle three."[147]
In February 2014, MLS commissioner Don Garber named three other markets as candidates for the final expansion team that would get the league's stated 24-team target by 2020,[148] and on April 25, 2014, he told Associated Press's sports editors that there would not be a third MLS team in New York.[149]
