MATT KREMKAU - EMPIRE OF SOCCER

by DAVE MARTINEZ

One bridge between the original NASL and its current iteration has been the rivalry between the New York Cosmos and the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Both teams have played to several contentious battles since 2013, adding a new and exciting chapter to their storied history.

But with Tampa Bay’s defection to the USL, that history is no more — and Cosmos’ head coach Giovanni Savarese laments the loss of his team’s primary rival.

“For the NASL and the history of the league, it’s definitely not a good thing that they are leaving,” Savarese tells EoS.

The Cosmos boss praised the Rowdies organization as one of the founding pillars of the modern NASL. He also spoke highly of the the unique, competitive nature of their encounters over the last several years.

But it isn’t just the on-field product that will be missed. Off the field, the Rowdies have long been admired league-wide for their strong initiatives at attracting fans and promoting the league — something Savarese feels magnifies their loss.

“Definitely it’s something that is not ideal for the NASL,” he said.

Rowdies owner Bill Edwards has been clear about his intentions to bring Tampa Bay back to the top division of American Soccer. For some time, that meant leading the NASL to rival the MLS establishment. In recent years, however, Tampa have been rumored to be flirting with a move to MLS instead. With the USL quickly becoming the vehicle for lower division clubs to make that jump, the Rowdies’ defection may speak to that larger goal.

Savarese acknowledges that losing the Rowdies is a big deal for the league. However, he also hopes that the decisions of defecting teams are made with the right intentions in mind.

“I just wish and I hope that going forward, everybody looks at the best interest of soccer and everyone can be united to that goal as well,” he said. “That is my hope with all the transitions, going up and down and the decisions of teams. I just hope the decisions are based for the best interest of the game in the future instead of situations that have nothing to do with the game.”

Asked if the defections are anything like the early days of MLS, Savarese acknowledged that they are — but also warned that the sporting landscape has changed drastically, making for a much steeper battle for the current NASL.

“I think it’s very similar, the NASL now with the MLS beginnings, but of course at the same time, there are other scenarios,” he explained. “Now, you have a Major League Soccer, you have a USL, you have many more players to choose from and many more people going to games.

“Even though the situation of the league in some ways is very much the same as when MLS started, the environment, the conditions are different.”