The New York Cosmos are back. Can the Tulsa Roughnecks be far behind...?

[TulsaRufnex]

New York Cosmos Join NASL
Storied Club to Resume Play in 2013
Posted on Thu, Jul 12, 2012

http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=2779

Over two days of meetings, that concluded today, the NASL Board of Governors also addressed a variety of league matters, including hearing presentations from a record number of potential expansion team owners and discussing possible changes to the league's competition structure for upcoming seasons.

The Cosmos ownership group New York Cosmos LLC is an international partnership led by industry veteran Seamus O'Brien. They are committed to putting the brand back at the forefront of North American soccer. The New York Cosmos began play in 1971, spending fourteen seasons in the earlier NASL, winning five Soccer Bowl trophies and bringing some of the biggest names in world soccer history to North America.  The Cosmos last won the NASL Soccer Bowl in 1982.

"We are extremely proud to welcome the New York Cosmos to the North American Soccer League," said NASL Commissioner David Downs. "As we continue to expand the league and help grow professional soccer in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, the Cosmos brand and their strong ownership group are a perfect fit with us.  The history of the Cosmos and soccer in the New York City area are intertwined.  Bringing the Cosmos into the NASL is a logical next step as we embrace the heritage of our own past and now reunite the Cosmos, Strikers, Rowdies and several markets with ties to the NASL's early days.

[Teatownclown]

+1

Let's go 'Necks!

[DolfanBob]

Now thats cool. The dreaded Cosmos are back. I hated everytime we played them. They were the "Miami Heat" of the NASL.

[TulsaRufnex]

Scorpions to Celebrate NASL Heritage with Flashback Night
July 5, 2012 - North American Soccer League (NASL) San Antonio Scorpions

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=4439821

San Antonio, TX (July 5, 2012) - The San Antonio Scorpions will pay tribute to the city's professional soccer history during their next home match with the San Antonio Thunder Flashback Night presented by Liberty Mutual.

The team will celebrate its North American Soccer League history in San Antonio when they take on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, an original NASL team, on Saturday, July 21. Kickoff for the match is set for 7:30 p.m. at Heroes Stadium.

"We want to take the time to remember the roots of professional soccer in San Antonio," Scorpions President Michael Hitchcock said. "Before the Scorpions, it had been 36 years since a team in San Antonio played in the NASL and we want to celebrate the legacy that began in those exciting days for soccer fans in this country. Plus our fans will pay 1976 prices so tickets start at only $4, hot dogs & sodas are only $1 and Parking is free; just like in 1976. Needless to say, this will be the best sports value for San Antonio families in 2012."

On March 31, 1976, the San Antonio Thunder beat the New York Cosmos in San Antonio at Alamo Stadium to kick off the 1976 NASL season. For the Scorpions match with the Strikers on July 21, the team is rolling back the clock and offering fans tickets, food, parking and merchandise at 1976 pricing.

1976   2012

[TulsaRufnex]

New York Cosmos' return to NASL is the first step to franchise revival
by Grant Wahl

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/grant_wahl/07/13/new-york-cosmos/index.html

On Thursday, they announced that the Cosmos will join the NASL, the second-tier domestic soccer league, in 2013. Reports say that the team will play in Hofstra's modest stadium, and the six employees suggest a heavy dose of restraint.

O'Brien, for his part, is quick to distance himself from Kemsley. "When I say something, it happens, and if it isn't I won't say it," he told me. "We won't say anything we're not going to deliver on, so you're not going to get hyperbole and big, grandiose lunatic statements that might have been the mantra of the past. You're going to get facts and reality."

MLS commissioner Don Garber also vouched for O'Brien when I spoke to him on Thursday. "I have spent quite a bit of time with Seamus and his partners, and I think they're terrific," Garber said. "[Joining the NASL] shows they're serious about being real, that it's more than a merchandising play. It's about being a club and having a team with players on the ground and trying to develop a fan base."

MLS has been clear that it wants the league's 20th team to be a second New York City-area outfit, but the process is an unusual one. MLS owners want to build a new soccer stadium first -- reportedly in the Flushing Meadows area -- and then hold an auction between ownership groups vying to join the league. The idea is to draw an expansion fee of up to $100 million.

[guido911]

[TulsaRufnex]

What are you?  Twelve?

Here ya go, troll....
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=19184.0

[guido911]

What are you?  Twelve?

Here ya go, troll....
http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=19184.0

What are you, a humorless, deuce-stain? Oh wait, you are. Sorry. Moving along.

[Ed W]

Now thats cool. The dreaded Cosmos are back. I hated everytime we played them. They were the "Miami Heat" of the NASL.

Would you play against these Cosmos?

[DolfanBob]

Would you play against these Cosmos?

Not the ones that answer those d@mn quizzes.

[TulsaRufnex]

Would you play against these Cosmos?

[TulsaRufnex]

A computer-animated stadium proposal... ooh... aaah... golf clap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MzjIjRxshGQ

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130116/new-york-cosmos-stadium/


http://nycosmos.com/news

[Teatownclown]

A computer-animated stadium proposal... ooh... aaah... golf clap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MzjIjRxshGQ

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130116/new-york-cosmos-stadium/


http://nycosmos.com/news

LOVE YOUR TUDE, RUFF!

[Conan71]

LOVE YOUR TUDE, RUFF!

What? No screed about too many venues chasing too few entertainment dollars or waste of public funds on public facilities?

[TulsaRufnex]

What? No screed about too many venues chasing too few entertainment dollars or waste of public funds on public facilities?

Well, TTC appears to have scooped me on something that is close to happening in the local soccer sphere... nothing earthshattering... details to come...

Also... this proposed NY Cosmos stadium appears, at first glance, to be privately funded.

MLS's business model from the very beginning involved eventually constructing and controlling their own stadia, similar to how AAA baseball pushed for new stadiums in the 90s.
That may explain why a certain gentleman with the last name "Rooney" was an integral part of Charlie Mitchell's original MLS bid group in the early 90s.

If a stadium is publicly funded, then the government can't afford to have its prime tenant fail by jacking up the rent and asking for unreasonable concessions. (and I do mean that literally)
If a stadium is privately funded, then the ownership group has spent too much money to have its franchise fail.
And if a stadium has one of those fancy-schmancy public/private partnerships, then neither the govt nor the private sector can afford to allow it to fail, at least in the short-term.

The newest wrinkle is the construction/modification of stadiums for minor league soccer...

... new and privately funded in San Antonio... http://tpr.org/post/san-antonio-scorpions-toyota-field-nears-completion


... a refurb to be shared with a CFL team in Ottawa... http://www.ottawafuryfc.com/index.php?id=630&newsid=3771


... this one shared with a new ballclub in Virginia... http://www.virginiacavalry.com/


... and Indianapolis is trying to work within the confines of an older 12k capacity soccer/track&field facility overlooking downtown at IUPUI... http://indyprosoccer.com/club/carroll-stadium-soccer-field-2/