The New York Cosmos confirmed today that the club will begin play in NISA starting in the Fall of 2020. The tentative start time for the Fall Season is early August.

“Our application into NISA was recently accepted by the league’s Board of Governors for the Fall 2020 Season,” said Erik Stover, acting Chief Operating Officer. “We were not invited to apply to NISA until after the US Soccer deadline for adding teams for the Spring Season had already passed, so applying for the Fall 2020 Season was our earliest opportunity to join NISA.”

Additionally, by switching from the NPSL to NISA, the Cosmos lost their automatic qualification into the Open Cup for next season.

“We have always made the Open Cup a priority, but the timing of our exit from NPSL and entry into NISA forces us to have to sit out the tournament in 2020,” added Stover.   

Stover concluded by saying, “even though we won’t be participating in the Open Cup, there will still be plenty of work going on behind the scenes as we prepare for play in a fully professional league.  We plan on using this time to build a competitive team that adds to the rich history of success New York Cosmos fans have come to expect.”