The New York Cosmos are back!

Sunday, August 1, 2010, New York NY

In a surprise announcement at the Copa NYC finals, soccer icon and former Cosmos star Pele announced that the beloved New York Cosmos will return to the pitch.

The world-renowned New York Cosmos return with a greater goal in mind – to inspire, develop and field world-class players. The New York Cosmos are committed to helping improve the future of soccer in this country, with a significant investment in grassroots and youth soccer programs and providing elite coaching philosophies and training opportunities.

The club's ultimate vision is to bring Th e New York Cosmos back to the greatest city in the world, to be a part of Major League Soccer, and to compete for the championship.

Also, the New York Cosmos have acquired the Copa NYC tournament. In addition to running it every year in New York, they will be looking to expand Copa both domestically and internationally in order to engage more local communities to participate in the "global game" at a grassroots level.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined Pele and members of the Cosmos Champion teams to reflect on the impact The New York Cosmos had on soccer and what the future holds..

The five-time NASL champion New York Cosmos were considered to be a highly influential "Global All-Star Team" from 1971 through 1985.

On Saturday night in Manhattan, members of the team got together to share memories from the glory years, replay great moments from The New York Cosmos history and talk about the re-birth of the Cosmos franchise. The New York Cosmos Legends Dinner celebration was historic...

Bader TV News Executive Producer Mike Leventhal worked closely with the International Soccer star Pele throughout the historic weekend.