New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is meeting with North American Soccer League and local officials about the potential of reviving a Puerto Rico NASL team in coming years.
Anthony has already toured potential facilities and met with elected officials in Puerto Rico. NASL has experience in the market as well: the Puerto Rico Islanders (shown above) competed in the league and finished third in the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League tournament. From Empire of Soccer:
Anthony, who’s mother is Puerto Rican, is looking to revive the lost soccer market — but not necessarily under the Islanders banner. The 31-year-old Brooklyn native visited Puerto Rico in early May to scope out the landscape, investigate potential stadium sites and to speak to local politicians about the interest and possibility for a new pro soccer team. He has since been in constant contact with the NASL, which has longed to find the right partners to bring back their unique Puerto Rican market.
Talks between Anthony and the NASL have quietly been going on for months. Still, the resurrection of Puerto Rico is in the infancy stages, with no word on other potential ownership partners joining the Brooklyn native as of this report.
NASL expansion, after fizzling out in Oklahoma City and Loudoun County, Va., seems to be back on track, with Hamilton (Canada) and Puerto Rico being discussed by league insiders.