Only One Football

There were two big New York soccer rumors reported in the media this past week.  The first was that Pele may be recruited by newly minted New York Cosmos owner Paul Kemsley to serve as President of the organization, which he intends to build into a lifestyle brand as well as a football club.  The second is that David Beckham is eyeing New York, Miami or Montreal as the location in which to exercise his right to start a new MLS franchise.  In my opinion, these two rumors should in reality become one, Kemsley and Beckham should work together to bring the New York Cosmos brand into MLS.

Kemsley, a famous English businessman who has appeared as a judge on the British version of The Apprentice, has experience in Premier League football operations from his stake in Tottenham Hotspur.  Although his financial empire is reported to have been dealt stunning blows during last year’s economic collapse, Kemsley’s business wiles caused him to recognize an undervalued asset in the Cosmos brand and snatch it away from Peppe Pinton for what in the near future may be considered a bargain the likes of which New York sports has not seen since George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees for $17M and turned them into a billion dollar empire.

In order to make such a transformation happen Kemsley needs to reestablish the New York Cosmos as both a football club and a brand.  The reported idea is that Kemsley wants to restart the Cosmos as a star-studded traveling team that plays high profile exhibitions, and then look at options to bring the Cosmos into a league. The good news is the Cosmos remain the most recognizable brand in American soccer even though they have not set a foot a pitch in almost 25 years. The bad news is that there’s one viable league in the US to enter, and the costs of entering MLS are very high.   In addition, a Cosmos team needs to have star players in order to sustain the attention of the New York media in a market that has the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Knicks, Nets, Devils, Islanders and Rangers.  Not to mention the Red Bulls, and a recent and often-ran TV commercial reciting that list of New York teams didn’t bother listing the Red Bulls.  That is the type of mainstream consciousness the Cosmos would need to break through.

What better way to tackle all of these issues in one swoop then to partner with star footballers like David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira.  Henry and Vieira have indicated a desire to come play in the United States soon, with New York at the top of their lists.  Beckham loves New York enough to have named one of his sons after a borough, and he holds an asset that would be very valuable in this situation:  Rights to start an MLS franchise.  Kemsley owns the brand, Beckham owns the buy-in voucher and if they partner with Vieira, Henry and some other high profile players the New York Cosmos could relaunch in their full glory as soon as 2011.  Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo has been trying to get MLS to let his club into the league as a 19th franchise as soon as 2011 - why not add both Montreal AND the Cosmos to round out the league at 20 clubs?  It’s not like other sports where adding teams dilutes the talent in the league - the world is abundant with soccer talent at the MLS and better level of play.

Now those familiar with MLS rules might have already dismissed my proposal by saying the salary cap would prevent a club from having Beckham, Henry AND Vieira, let alone more star players.  That is where a smart ownership system could come into place, one whose value to its star players isn’t in their cap-restricted paychecks, but instead in assets of greater value.  The founding members of the new Cosmos could be granted an ownership stake. Beckham obviously would have to be a part owner in this scenario, but the others also could be.  That, in addition to endorsement money they would earn and a large piece of shirt sales, and Beckham, Henry, Vieira and any other stars brought over to the Cosmos would be handsomely rewarded.  You could set aside future stock grants in the club, smaller than what you would give the initial group, for future high profile players to be lured onto the Cosmos after the initial group retires.

The New York Cosmos being reborn into MLS through David Beckham’s franchise option seems like such a natural fit.  If the egos involved could mesh in a mutually beneficial way, the media attention poured on Major League Soccer would be unlike anything since at least Beckham’s arrival, and at best the arrival of Pele and the heyday of the Cosmos in NASL.  Major League Soccer has long avoided the legacy of the Cosmos, but in order for MLS to launch to a new level of visibility in the public eye, it needs to embrace a scenario like the one I’m describing if the opportunity were to come.   The lords of MLS have been wise to run their business conservatively and they have been rewarded by doing so with financial stability and growth in the most difficult economic period in recent times.  However, the opportunity to field a Cosmos team with Beckham, Henry and others is one they should figure out a way to work into the league, without sacrificing the league’s fiscally wise ways.  The benefits would certainly outweigh the risks, and the reborn New York Cosmos would usher the league into a new era.