Struggling NASL Will Play Championship in Front of Just 2,600 People

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Struggling NASL Will Play Championship in Front of Just 2,600 People

November 10, 2016 Howard Megdal

Not so long ago, the North American Soccer League took aim at Major League Soccer, with the goal of supplanting it as the top soccer circuit in America. Back in April 2015, league commissioner Bill Peterson, asserted that "our teams, our owners are at the highest level" and on par with the top division.

His signature team, a reboot of Pelé's New York Cosmos, entered the league in August 2013, and quickly backed up that assertion. On Sunday against Indy Eleven, these Cosmos will look to win their third championship in four years. Unfortunately not even 3,000 people will be on hand to see it, a fact that sucks all of the air out of Peterson's boasts.

The problem is due to the Cosmos still not having a permanent home stadium. When MLS initially courted the Cosmos, ownership preferred to invest what would have been a $100 million expansion fee in the team itself. Primarily, that meant a new stadium, designs for which were submitted for state approval in 2012. By the most pessimistic projections, the stadium would be up and running by now, had it been quickly approved.

But the stadium got caught in the struggle MLS continues to have over building a stadium for NYCFC, the franchise picked to be the second team in the New York market once talks between MLS and the Cosmos broke down. MLS lobbied successfully against the Cosmos' stadium, and it continues to be held up in state red tape, much to the Cosmos' anger.

As a result, the team has played at Hofstra University's Shuart Stadium. However, due to scheduling conflicts and a deteriorating relationship with the university, the championship match will be played at St. John's University's Belson Stadium. Whereas Shuart holds nearly 12,000 people, Belson has a capacity of just 2,600.