Carmelo Anthony’s attraction to NASL

In the fall of 2016, Puerto Rico FC (PRFC) kicked off their first season in the North American Soccer League (NASL). At the time, owner Carmelo Anthony aligned himself with the vision of the NASL. “Athletes don’t like salary caps,” current president Thomas Payne said during a phone conversation, “Carmelo saw an opportunity and expected NASL to expand and thrive.”

As is well known, between July 2nd, 2016 and now, NASL has neither expanded nor thrived. In early August, it was announced that Minnesota United — the best supported team in NASL — would be playing in MLS in 2017. In October, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury decided they would be playing in USL next season. Meanwhile, it became apparent that Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Rayo OKC and New York Cosmos experienced serious financial difficulties. Lately, reports of league collapse have also emerged, and it would come at a horrible time for PRFC — a team in its infancy.

So what does Carmelo think about NASL now?

“He just wants the team to play. We are committed to soccer in Puerto Rico for the long haul, and changing leagues would not affect that. Right now, we’re still an NASL team and I’ve had no update in quite a few days about league status,” Payne said, “but, let’s be clear, we cannot stop the momentum, we need to be playing.”

NASL’s mistakes

While some might think that is a tacit admission that PR is looking for a move to USL, Payne clarified that wasn’t the case. “It sounds like a merger of leagues (USL and NASL) is possible at this point and let me reiterate that Carmelo thinks highly of the NASL structure.” However, Payne admits that mistakes have been made along the way. Payne believes that the league has to help manage and oversee organizations within the league itself.

“Recently I read that Major league baseball told the Dodgers they had to cut their budget. We’re talking about the Dodgers! There has to be some oversight or else we can run into the financial difficulties we have seen.”

Payne added that he understands that one of the reasons NASL ownership is attractive to people like Anthony is the ability to spend freely on players, but feels improved vetting of ownership groups would prevent undesirable spending. “I don’t think it’s unfair to say that Rayo OKC doesn’t happen if we had better vetting. We need to find a balance in between MLS’ overbearing oversight and what NASL has right now.”

“Sometimes, you have to say no to some people.”

PRFC — an asset to USL?

Beyond the ownership’s clear preference for the NASL model, there are logistical problems with a potential PR to USL move. Geography is a big one. USL sources have said that given relatively small travel budgets, scheduling travel to PR is not ideal.

Payne doesn’t agree. “If we are professional teams in a professional league, one or two trips to PR a year (per team) should not be difficult for most if not all teams. From what I understand many USL teams are flying to away trips anyway now. You can’t expect your players to be sat on a bus for eight hours and then play a strong 90 minutes the next day.”

Another oft-mentioned idea is that all player contracts would have to be renegotiated if PRFC were to switch to USL. Payne is nonplussed by that potential problem, “Yes, it might involve some red-tape, but our commitment to the players remains as is. We would not try to renegotiate their contracts down at all, we value our playing personnel here and our fans do too.”

If anything, Payne believes that if PRFC were to join USL, they would be a huge asset to the organization because of their appeal to Puerto Rican immigrants living in soccer markets. “There are around 1.5 million Puerto Ricans in NYC, around 1 million in Florida. I was even at a Rayo OKC game last season, and saw around 50 supporters wearing our orange jerseys,” Payne said excitedly, “This is what I want people to realize, that we’ve barely scratched the surface of what we can do as an organization, and we are excited about the future.”

When reaching out to a couple of USL sources, the reaction to a possible absorption of PRFC was met with ambivalence. One source told me, “We’d happily take them, as long as we can also have some other key markets.” Another source involved with a prominent USL club remarked, “I fear for their long term viability in that market but would enjoy a road trip to play them despite the cost to our travel budget.”

PRFC — the success story

Unlike most NASL clubs, PRFC has already had player meetings and expects players to be back in January to start pre-season in preparation for the CFU Club Championships — to allow them to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League. Therefore, PRFC is in a strange position where head coach Adrian Whitebread and his staff know which players are coming back, yet are unsure of which league they’ll be playing in.

“Look, I’ve been around soccer for a long time, having worked at LA Galaxy and even in advisory roles within some USL teams,” Payne remarked, “A league with only 5–6 teams is not competitive and not meaningful, and ultimately not something we’re interested in. This is why we hope this merger will happen, or we’ll continue to explore our other options.”

“We’ve built a very professional sports organization, and believe that our ticket numbers will continue to grow. We have managed to deal with the recession here in PR, and still have an average attendance we are proud of. As the economy grows, things will continue to improve for the club, too.”

The future and the present

While PRFC finished 8th out of 12 teams in the fall, it is important to recognize their progress towards the end of the season. From July 2nd until September 3rd, PRFC won only one game; against Rayo OKC. However, from then until the end of the season, PRFC’s had an enviable record — P10 W4 D2 L2, including an 8-game unbeaten run, catapulted by the improved form of 23-year old forward, Sidney Rivera.

“Carmelo was happy with how the first season progressed, but it’s not enough. We want to make Puerto Rico proud of its team. We want attendances to grow, and perhaps, someday Carmelo may want to have his own stadium. We have a fantastic owner, fantastic support, and fantastic staff.”

When the scenario of an NASL may collapse combined with a potential block of an USL move was posed to him, Payne unequivocally responded with:

“Trust me, we’ll be playing next season.”

Big thanks to Mr. Alejandro Diaz for helping set up this interview.