Cosmos chief - US soccer needed promotion and relegation, we've been complacent for too long

In an exclusive interview with Rich and Rob, Erik Stover, the new CEO of the relaunched Cosmos, says the club will do things differently with a focus on the development of young U.S. footballers.

Thursday 10 July had been a long-time coming for football supporters who still get misty-eyed at the mention of the New York Cosmos.

But as the club prepares for its third iteration following its re-launch, the club’s new CEO, Erik Stover, says that things will be different this time around - and hopes the way the Cosmos operates will spark a revolution in U.S. soccer.

Stover is well-versed in the challenges that have existed in the sport across the Atlantic since the rise and fall of the NASL in the 1970s and ‘80s.

With the fortunes of the Cosmos, in many ways, a microcosm of the roller-coaster nature of the sport in the U.S.

Now Stover - managing director of the New York Red Bulls between 2008 and 2011 and chief operating officer at the NY Cosmos for six years from 2012 - believes that a community-driven approach, both to building a fanbase and developing young local talent, will provide a stable foundation and a platform for sustainable growth.

Despite the Cosmos upping sticks and moving over the Hudson River to New Jersey.

“There's a uniqueness to soccer in America, and the ups and downs of the Cosmos, the high peaks and the valleys, it's all very much an American soccer story,” says Stover.

“And I think all of that resonates with people in New Jersey.

“There’s also a dire need for really good players in urban areas to be given a chance that for decades they've never had.

“We've had way too many super talented players fall through the cracks, and it's not just here, it's all over the United States.

“The game has been run very differently here compared to the rest of the world.

“Kids with that kind of talent, if they were in London or Sao Paulo or Copenhagen or Berlin, they would they would have a chance to become a professional player and the path would be laid out for them and it would be up to them to do the work.

“Here, we have so much talent that just never gets the chance.

“Instead of complaining about that, we're going to do our best to fix it here in our community.”

The rebranded Cosmos, which will also feature a fully professional women’s side, will return to competitive football in the USL League One, the third tier of the sport in the U.S., in March 2026.

Pele remains the most famous name to pull on the Cosmos shirt

And rather than reflect the glory days of the club, when the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and Johan Neeskens pitched up in the Big Apple, the team on the pitch next season will mirror the ambitions of its owners off it.

It’s Stover’s hope that the rest of U.S. soccer will sit up and take note.

“Everything we're doing is community driven, it’s about helping people here and creating business opportunities that haven't existed here for decades,” he says.

“That's where it all starts. But for us, as an ownership group, it also needs to be commercially viable.

“Now, we're not budgeting on player transfers - if they happen or when they happen, that'll be fantastic.

“But if we're going to be sustainable, then we have to run it commercially and be commercially successful.

“If we do that, then we're around much longer and we can do more good in the community and for the region. So that is very much part of our plan.

“It's the model that works well for clubs around the rest of the world.

“Even clubs that you put in the top 20 of biggest clubs in the world, clubs like Dortmund.

“You have to develop your own players. You have to get them into the first team and then some of those players are going to be transferred and you need that to happen to keep the club going.

“And that's the way it works from the very top all the way to the bottom.

“We don't do that particularly well here in the States. But that's how we're going to operate, and I'm convinced that it will lead to profitability in a short time. It's not going to take a long time for us to get there.”

And this just might be the perfect time to enter the market, as the USL prepares to enter the world of promotion and relegation, rather than the age-old closed league system that has dominated U.S. sport.

“We're too much a league driven sport in this country, and it's got to start being more about clubs,” he says. “I've learned that lesson and seen that lesson over and over again.

The club’s new branding explained

“I think we have a fundamental structural problem and I also think a lot of owners don't really get it, don't see it, and don't understand how it works in the rest of the world.

“If they're not building a business around these ideas that we're talking about, then the coaches aren't being told that they need to develop players, and we know what happens with coaches.

“Unfortunately, they get fired rather easily, and you understand that they're always under pressure to win the next match and get the next three points.

“When you're operating that way, you're going to make the easy short-term decision, which is probably playing an older veteran that doesn't have the upside that a younger player has. That shortcut just happens over and over again, it’s sort of baked into the system.

“I also think that without promotion and relegation, without the pressure to constantly get the most points, there's a complacency.

“There are games that are played here that matter in the league for points, but to all intents and purposes, don't matter at all.

“People in the stands can see it. The fans aren't stupid, they can tell the difference.

“A lack of intensity is what turns fans off.”

Having spent a considerable amount of time in Europe during his career, Stover has seen at first hand the impact that the threat of relegation and the potential joy of promotion can have - both commercially and emotionally.

“You know, having lived in Europe, I know the difference of how it feels on a match day when those three points mean absolutely everything,” he says.

“I've had clubs I've worked with throughout Europe where you live and die with those executives every weekend, depending on what the result is. And I think it is really missing here. I don’t think people appreciate how much it impacts everything - commercial deals, your ability to hire staff and hire the right type of people.

“They don’t know what it feels like to be in a locker room, and have so much pressure on you.

“I don't think that we Americans understand it. You've got to kind of live it. And now we're going to have a chance to live it.”

It’s not just those occupying the boardroom who will experience it. In the stands of the club’s newly renovated Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, there will be a renewed sense of excitement too.

“From a supporter's point of view, and it doesn't have to be 60,000 people in a stadium, it could be 1,000, It could be 500, and you can feel that,” he says.

“That gets really deep into your heart - it's your club, then. You have a responsibility too.

“Even if you're relegated and it hurts and everybody's angry and it's painful and you can't sleep for days - what normally happens is everybody rallies back around.

“Now I’ve got to get back up - it's our job to get back up.

“I think we missed that in American sport.

“In many ways, what we end up with are games that mean absolutely nothing, that nobody cares about.

“It's not about the result, it’s about, did you get a warm hot dog and a cold beer?”

In New Jersey, all that is about to change.

Rob’s Takeaways

Community first, because sustainability starts at street level; What Stover and the new Cosmos ownership understand, perhaps better than mos, is that a football club is only as strong as its roots. They’re building a legacy on local identity, on regional opportunity, and on social responsibility. For clubs in the lower tiers (or even in elite leagues), community integration is a strategic asset, not a CSR footnote. If you get this bit right, the business case strengthens: from ticket sales and player recruitment to sponsor appeal.

The pathway problem: when potential lacks structure; One of the biggest structural weaknesses in U.S. football, highlighted with painful clarity in this article, is the lack of a clear player development pathway. Stover’s point is simple but powerful: if these same kids were in São Paulo, London, or Berlin, they’d have a shot. In the States, they vanish. Creating viable pipelines from grassroots to professional level is not just a talent issue, it’s a business one. Player development equals asset creation, and if you're not doing that, you're not building a club, you're renting one.

Commercial viability isn’t the enemy of purpose, it’s the engine for it; Stover hits the nail on the head: “We’re not budgeting on transfers. If they come, great. But our model has to work commercially.” That’s the reality for 95% of clubs globally. Transfer windfalls are nice, but they’re not a business model. Clubs have to be run as commercially competent enterprises and that includes; ticketing, merchandising, partnerships, fan engagement. Without a sustainable commercial base, even the most noble sporting mission won’t survive the next downturn.

Promotion and relegation aren't just about the table, they create emotional equity; What American soccer lacks, and what USL is now exploring, is the raw, high-stakes drama of promotion and relegation. Stover nails the psychology: fans know when a game doesn’t matter, and nothing drains brand value like apathy. Promotion and relegation aren’t just structural tweaks; they’re emotional architecture. They give clubs narrative, urgency, risk, and therefore, value. Commercial partners notice. Players feel it. And the crowd? They show up for it.

Short-termism is systemic, and it’s time clubs fought back; When coaches are under pressure, the easy choice is the experienced journeyman over the 17-year-old academy product. But repeat that enough times and your club loses its future. Stover’s acknowledgement that this mindset is “baked into the system” is vital. Great clubs institutionalise long-term thinking, through their ownership structure, incentives, and development philosophy. If U.S. football wants to mature, it has to stop copying the results sheet and start copying the process.