When The NASL Became Relevant

The signing of Pelé

When The NASL Became Relevant

I wrote a little bit about the early history of the NASL a few months ago:

One interesting thing to note is that the NASL and its two predecessor leagues did not have much success at all in the beginning. In fact, it wasn’t until Pelé signed with the New York Cosmos in June 1975 that the league became relevant in the United States sporting landscape.

Now, the fact that Pelé’s signing was so widely celebrated in the American media alone hints at the fact that there was demand for football in the United States at that time. Pelé was known because of his World Cup heroics of the past — and the fact that he was a known superstar in the United States alone shows that there were indeed fans of the sport.

Everybody took notice when Pelé was signed. Even The Sporting News, a conservative sporting publication that was still extremely baseball-focused in 1975, started running articles on the NASL as soon as Pelé was signed:

From The Sporting News, June 21, 1975, page 50

That was followed by this article… about a San Jose Earthquakes fan:

As strange as the focus of these articles is, at least it was something. The NASL was widely ignored in the American media before this.