By Mark Baber
June 5 – New York Cosmos and its Honorary President Pelé have signed a kit and sponsorship deal with Emirates Airlines. The new deal awakens nostalgia for the 1970s, but the club has some major hurdles to overcome to add to its former glories.
Not least of these hurdles is the challenges faced following the announcement of the new MLS franchise in New York, NYCFC, a undoubtedly powerful joint venture between the Premier League’s Manchester City and the New York Yankees baseball team.
The new Cosmos deal will see the Emirates logo on the iconic green and white Cosmo shirts produced by Nike.
At the launch, Pelé said, “This is a big day for the future of the New York Cosmos.”It’s wonderful to be part of such a pre-eminent football family.
Nabil Sultan, a vice-president of Emirates said, “New York has a rich tradition of sport, and Emirates proudly supports some of the world’s top teams, including AC Milan, Hamburg, Arsenal, Olympiakos and Paris Saint-Germain, plus the recently announced shirt sponsorship of Real Madrid. Therefore, choosing to support the relaunch of the Cosmos back to this amazing city was an obvious choice.”
Amidst reports that Marcos Senna may be signing for the club, Cosmos’ club Chairman Seamus O’Brien said, “When we do get to the top again – and trust me, we will – we will stay there long past my lifetime.”
O’Brien says he believes New York can support three soccer teams (including the Red Bulls and the recently announced New York City FC) and that he is involved in on-going dialogue with Major League Soccer and its commissioner Don Garber.
In a city where money talks, the size of the deal is being kept under wraps, but New York soccer fans may benefit from the rivalry between the Emirates and Etihad airlines.
The name ‘New York Cosmos’ came in to being when two NYC teachers. Meyer Diller and Al Capelli, entered the contest and submitted the name ‘Cosmos’, shortened from ‘Cosmopolitans’, which just happened to match the choice of general manager Clive Toye who was looking to outdo the ‘Metropolitans’.
But it was Toye’s success in arranging the signing of Pelé on June 10, 1975, on a salary of $1.4 million per year, that transformed the club into a major venture and really kick-started the NASL.
In the late 1970s the club enjoyed average attendances of over 40,000 and attracted great stars including Franz Beckenbauer , Giorgio Chinaglia and Carlos Alberto and the franchise remains the most successful in US soccer history having won five championships.
However, after Pelé’s retirement the club, and the NASL, went into decline and eventually closed down. The name and brand however remained, and in August 2010 a new team was announced, fronted by Pelé, which joined the new incarnation of the NASL, after failing to be accepted by MLS.
Despite the fact the club has not played a competitive game for 30 years, and is stuck in the NASL which has no promotion mechanism to the MLS, O’Brien, said the partnership was “written in the stars” pointing out that “Cosmopolitan” is, one of the inspirational words Emirates use to encapsulate their mission and values, along with Professional, Empathetic, Progressive and Visionary.
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