The team, once synonymous with American soccer, is reborn
“YOU can say now to the world that soccer has finally arrived in the United
States,” said Pelé, as he signed a contract said to be worth $4.7m with the New
York Cosmos in 1975. Attendance suffered when Pelé left in 1977, and eight years later the team
disbanded. Three decades on, the Cosmos are returning.
Football in America is in a very different state now. More high-schoolers
play soccer than baseball. One ESPN poll showed that Americans between the ages
of 12 and 24 ranked professional soccer as their second favourite sport, behind
only football of the helmeted and padded sort. Attendance at Major League Soccer
matches is higher than at National Hockey League and National Basketball
Association games. The MLS, America’s premier league, has a mixture of
home-grown players and international ones, like Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane.
David Beckham has just completed a five-year stint playing for LA Galaxy.
