IMAGE, DAVE MARTINEZ, EMPIRE OF SOCCER

by JAKE NUTTING

From where New York Cosmos Chairman Seamus O’Brien sits, there isn’t much he or the team’s investors could have done differently over the last five years to avoid their current state of affairs.

“Some things you could have done differently? No, I don’t think so,” O’Brien told EoS last week. “Belmont would have been great, but we didn’t control that process. We performed on the field to a level that raised the standard of the league. We were competitive whenever we played in U.S. Open Cup or when we played overseas.

“I don’t think we could have done more on or off the field than we did.”

O’Brien’s stance is likely a surprising one for Cosmos supporters who have watched over the last two weeks as front office staff were first furloughed and then eventually laid off. That, of course, followed news of players being released from their contracts and news of the team being sued for unpaid rent at their Long Island offices.

While most will justifiably see the significant cutbacks as a sign of a team in collapse, O’Brien maintains the moves are pragmatic based on the climate of the NASL and U.S. Soccer as a whole.

“We are just reacting to circumstances around us,” he asserted. “We weren’t the cause or the initiators of those circumstances — they are just circumstances we found ourselves in. Unfortunately in New York, with this team and its history, there are certain expectations and we intend to maintain those, and the options for us in those circumstances were limited.”

Those high standards for the Cosmos brand are limiting the team’s options at the moment, according to O’Brien. The Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury FC already jumped ship from the NASL to the USL, but others are said to be heading the same way. Expansion side Rayo OKC is unlikely to return for a follow up season. Fort Lauderdale remain in limbo.

Considering the circumstances, continuing on in the NASL with a drastically reduced playing field is a non-starter.

“We aren’t closing the doors. We are just mindful of the fact that if you can’t play in a league as it is now going forward, and that was the decision we made, then we just take back operations to what you need to keep it going and look at what your options are moving forward,” O’Brien explained. “And that is what we have done.”

As of last week, though, the Cosmos had not officially withdrawn from the NASL. A core group of the league’s owners committed to carrying on the cause had been reaching out to O’Brien to keep him on board, with the slimmest of hopes of keeping the league alive. Even with their financial troubles, the Cosmos are still seen as a valuable asset and the league’s dedicated investors are desperate to hold on to as many partners as possible.

But even with the rest of the remaining owners pleading for help, O’Brien is looking to make what he views as the most sound business decision for his organization.

“We just want to take a step back,” O’Brien said of his approach to the situation. “We have been saddened by this situation more than anyone else. As anyone will vouch, we have done more to try to advance the status and progress of the NASL.

“Things happen in life and business. We are where we are. So we will sit back, look at all the options. People have been calling us, but let’s just say we want to do things as professionally as we can in the interim.”

The loss of the Rowdies and Ottawa to the USL put a public spotlight on the league’s issues, but O’Brien admits the league had a host of other difficult issues to deal with this year. After working with his fellow owners to resolve those problems and pull themselves up, O’Brien now appears ready to pull away from the table.

“There have been issues with the league through the year, but as owners, everybody was dealing with it,” he reveals. “You don’t need me to say the day Ottawa and Tampa withdrew, the whole world saw the league has a problem. As owners, we tried to get through that.

“As it happens, other things evolved, and we are where we are today.”

O’Brien wouldn’t close the door on competing in the NASL completely. However, his insistence that a field of at least 12 teams is necessary for the Cosmos to remain does make it an improbable scenario.

“There are a number of folks with the NASL, many of my colleagues there that believe in the future,” explains O’Brien. “It’s not that we don’t believe in the future of the league — it’s just that we can’t play in a seven team league. That eventuality started to become clear over the last one, two months. As a business, you’ve got to react to that. And that is what we have done.”

While O’Brien says he’s saddened by the dire situation the NASL is in, he’s still not letting any emotions interfere with good business. He and all his investors are all in agreement that neither the NASL nor USL, as they stand, are suitable for the legacy of the Cosmos.

“One could never foresee being in this position after all the success and growth the league has had, but it’s a fact. As businessmen, we deal in the world of fact, hopefully, so we had to react to it,” he said. “We had to take a bunch of measures in preparing the team for the eventuality that we are not able to play in a seven team league. It doesn’t make any sense. It could be less. Who knows?”