International Soccer Success at Citi Field May Motivate Mets to Invest in MLS

New York, NY (June 7, 2011)—Citi Field will not be home to “America's pastime” this Tuesday evening. Rather, the baseball stadium will be the home to “the world's game” when the national teams of Ecuador and Greece take the field at a soccer-converted Citi Field, the home the New York Mets.  The Mets expect a sell-out crowd of approximately 50,000 fans to enthusiastically and passionately cheer on their respective teams. It will be a night of exuberance and celebration, full of international flair, like only international futbol can deliver.  Bottom line: The event will be a tremendous sporting and financial success.  The Mets ownership will look at another example of what the “New America” looks like. It is multicultural, multiracial, and a bulk of the community speaks Espanol and—yes, it is absolutely wild about futbol/soccer.  This will be another vivid example of what the soccer market in NYC can deliver. The Mets ownership may not recognize many things, but it surely recognizes U.S. American dollars, regardless of whose pockets they come from.  This soccer match, and another international game expected to be played this summer, may be the last tidbits of hard-marketing data that the Mets ownership groups needs to digest, ...

Agudelo to AS Roma, Donovan to Club America and Del Piero to the Galaxy

New York, NY (May 18, 2011)—The rumor mill is spinning wildly around Major League Soccer.The American investors who recently purchased AS Roma are reportedly eager to add an American star player to the “Yellow-Reds” to play alongside living legend, Francesco Totti, the club’s current captain. There is talk that Red Sox minority owner, Thomas DiBenedetto, is pushing to acquire America’s all-around best player, Landon Donovan, of the LA Galaxy, a move that could generate an estimated $14 million transfer fee for MLS.News reports indicate that if established American stars like Donovan prove to be a bit too expensive, AS Roma will turn its focus on young and emerging American stars with much promise, like 18 year-old Colombian-American star forward Juan Agudelo of the New York Red Bulls.Donovan’s name is also being mentioned repeatedly in Mexico’s Primera Division circles. Various news outlets, including ESPN Deportes, are reporting that Club America is seriously considering making an offer for the 29-year old American star, the US national team’s all-time leading scorer with 45 goals.There is also a rumor “in reverse,” an Italian star coming to America. Living legend, Alessandro Del Piero, Juventus FC's most celebrated striker of the last few decades, is reportedly interested ...

Giovanni Savarese: ‘The Cosmos Will Aim To Model the FC Barcelona Playing Style’

Giovanni Saverese, the former MLS and Venezuelan national team striker, said that the New York Cosmos will aim to play entertaining soccer, a style of play that allows the players to express themselves, a style of play that is currently best exemplified by world powerhouse FC Barcelona. Savarese, the Cosmos director of youth teams, said the group behind the effort to revive the legendary club is serious and has the wherewithal to do what it takes to become the 20th club in MLS and the second team from the New York metropolitan area. The former Venezuelan goalscorer is a credible and effective spokesperson for the organization. Listen to the long and informative interview with Jorge Ramos of ESPN Radio en espanol. Interview with Giovanni Savarese of the New York CosmosRead more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Bobby Convey Returns To Form and Propels San Jose to MLS Semifinals

HARRISON, NJ (November 4, 2010) - Robert Francis "Bobby" Convey, the on again, off-again, American star, remembered that he still has game and went on to score two goals and serve an assist to propel the San Jose Earthquakes to the MLS Eastern Conference Championship.   Convey, the former D.C. United 17-year-old rookie phenom, the youngest player drafted into MLS, now 27, looked fully recovered from recurring knee injuries. Convey did it all in this game and thoroughly outshined the high profile New York Red Bulls "Galacticos," Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel and Rafael Marquez. Convey scored two brilliant goals (6th and 76th minute), and made a skillful lob into the penalty area that allowed to Chris Wondolowski (81st minute) to head the ball over Bouna Coundoul. San Jose went on to win the second leg of the series, 3-1. The one bright spot for New York Red Bull was the play of 17 year-old Colombian American striker Juan Agudelo, who displayed tremendous dribbling skills, speed and guile. At the 78th minute, Agudelo penetrated the penalty area on the left side, dribbled past a defender, and sent a beautifully weighted lob to Angel who headed the ball into the San Jose net ...

Neymar is Ideal Player To Lead Rebirth of New York Cosmos

Neymar, the sensational 18-year-old star forward of Brazilian club Santos FC, epitomizes the best of Brazilian soccer, he is marvelously skillful, stylish, charismatic and exudes the joyous spirit of “el jogo bonito.” He has accomplished much with the Brazilian club and recently made his debut with the Brazilian national team, in New Jersey, of all places. Top European clubs, like Chelsea, Real Madrid and Juventus, covet the youngster, but a 30 million euro transfer fee and the desire of Santos to retain its top star have been stumbling roadblocks that, so far, have stood in the way. Neymar's popularity and admiration is such that some observers have dared to compare him with the great Pele. Like Neymar, Pele also started his career with Santos FC, and enjoys a close, deeply personal friendship with the young phenom. Which brings me to one of Pele's latest business activities: promoting the return of the legendary club New York Cosmos. As some of us of certain age recall, the Cosmos reigned supreme in the late '70s and early '80s as the most glamorous and exciting club in the world. The team—led by Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, among other world class players—won several NASL titles, traveled the world, and ...

The Votes Are In: Red Bull Arena is a Golazo!

HARRISON, N.J. (March 29, 2010)– While the New York MetroStars, no, my bad, New York Red Bull has yet to live up to its winning and legendary predecessors, the New York Cosmos, their new stadium is certainly a big time winner. Red Bull Arena is living up to, perhaps even exceeding expectations from fans, players and other observers. Tri-State area fans watched and enjoyed the intimate and genuine soccer experience of Red Bull Arena as the Red Bulls played a friendly against Brazil’s Santos and competed in their first MLS game in the gorgeous soccer-specific venue. Many observers say that Red Bull Arena was exactly what they wanted. The feedback I received from friends and family who attended the match was overwhelmingly positive. News reports and fans commentary on the web has also been positive (No, I have not yet personally watched a match at the stadium). Comments about the proximity of the stands, how the roof captures the generated noise, the intricate Red Bull logos painted across the seats and sprinkled throughout the catacombs, the location of the Empire Supporters Club and the emphasis on public transportation, all speak of the attention to detail and the effort to foster a bond between ...

MLS Could End Labor Dispute with One-Year “Recession Deal”

The fact that Major League soccer blatantly violates FIFA players regulations is crystal clear. FIFPro, the international organization working in conjunction with the MLS players’ union, accurately asserts that MLS refuses to abide by FIFA’s regulations on the status and transfer of players. FIFPro correctly points out that player contracts are routinely terminated by the MLS League Office during its term, almost 80 percent of players in MLS do not have guaranteed contracts. MLS operates as a cartel in that every player’s contract must be entered into with the league instead of his club; the contract of virtually every player in the league contains multiple, unilateral one-year options that may only be exercised by the league. Virtually any player in the league can be transferred to another club within the league without his consent even if such transfer is international; and there is no freedom of movement for any MLS player to any other MLS clubs when his contract expires. In fact, even if a player’s contract is unilaterally terminated by a club during its term, that club continues to hold such player’s rights and he is prohibited from signing with another club in the league. With such blatant disregard for FIFA players regulations, why has ...

Time for Major League Soccer to Allow Its Teams to Sign Players Freely

Fourteen years of having Major League Soccer’s league office monopolize all player negotiations and signings is enough. Fourteen years of depriving the LA Galaxy, DC United, Colorado Rapids, Kansas City Wizards, and other MLS teams from freely having the chance to at least attempt to acquire world class players in their prime like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, or Lionel Messi, is enough. New York Red Bulls fans, Chicago Fire fans, Houston Dynamo fans, Chivas USA fans, FC Dallas fans, Sounders FC fans, Toronto FC fans, San Jose Earthquakes fans, Real Salt Lake fans, all fans want their teams to have a fighting chance, to have the freedom to do all they can to sign any player in the world that they want. Like Commissioner Don Garber likes to say, MLS is an American league managed in an American way. Freedom is the American way. Since its inception in 1996, MLS, the U.S.'s first division men’s outdoor professional league, instituted a single-entity setup allowing the league office to negotiate and sign all players and to impose a salary cap. The initial reasoning spouted by the league was the single-entity structure provides stability by imposing cost control, preventing the clubs from engaging in bidding wars to ...