Patrick Infurna: New Perspectives on the Beautiful Game

If you don’t follow Copa90 on social media, you’re missing out on one of the most exciting organizations covering international soccer. Their videos are interesting, well-shot, and fun to watch. Patrick Infurna plays a big part in many of their videos and we thought our readers would enjoy his thoughts on soccer journalism, the New York Cosmos and his music career. Enjoy!

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So Patrick, tell us about your background. Where are you from? Go to school? Etc?

What’s up! My name is Patrick Infurna, I was born in New Jersey but spent my teenaged and formative years in Vermont, where I also went to school at Castleton University. I studied Latin American Politics in school, spent some time in Argentina, landed an internship/job with a Boca Juniors academy in the US and now I work at COPA90 as a presenter and associate producer! I also dig music and play in a band that I’ve been in since I was 13, weird. 

How'd you get into soccer journalism?

My path into working in soccer involved a lot of kindness and support from friends and a little luck, my boy Prez brought me in to COPA90 which was then KICK to work on his documentary team as a Production Assistant, at that point I had been doing operations for the Boca Juniors US office and was ready for a switch to something more creative. COPA90 is an incredible company and the mobility and the access to do what you want within it is something I’m fortunate to be a part of, I was able to dip my toes into more aspects of the creative side of things after some time here and even able to co-produce documentaries, explainers, and other projects, it rules.

Tell us about Copa90. It's become the place to go for soccer content that's cutting edge. How did you get involved and what role do you fill there? How would you describe Copa90's method for choosing, shooting, producing content?

To go more into what COPA90 is about, we locate stories based on how important they are to the fans, really. It’s hard to pinpoint how and why exactly we do what we do and I’d bet there’s some sort of company line I should say here but to be completely honest, when it comes to our editorial content and when we want to tell a real fan oriented story, there’s just no stopping it. We’re constantly traversing the globe looking for the next story and the next cool way to tell it, between the London, New York, and Los Angeles offices it just never stops. That’s the beauty of soccer, too, the well will literally never dry up when it comes to interesting ways to look at the game. 

Your social media has a lot of Cosmos posts, fan much?

NEW YORK COSMOS CHAMPIONS. I love the club, its my team, my local side, the team my dad used to go see in high school when he didn’t even really care about soccer. It’s a wild, strange, sometimes agonizing club but it’s the only one I’ve got.

What do you think of the Cosmos' last couple of years? Specifically, NASL crashing, the year in NPSL
There’s no question that being a Cosmos fan has been beyond difficult, USSF’s ridiculous decision to de-sanction the league was the start of most of a new era of existential dread but it wasn’t really anything new, just a new look. I’ve been part of Cosmos fan groups going back to maybe 2010 or 2011 be it online or here in the city, and even back then the whole identity of this club and its fans has been “resist to exist” - from the very first decision to go to NASL, to the Seamus O’Brien ownership dipping on us essentially overnight, to Rocco saving the club at the 11th hour, the desanctioning, the NPSL season. If you look at just the sporting side of Cosmos you’d imagine we’d be the happiest fans in the world, but the reality is, no successes we’ve had on the field haven’t been coupled with hardship off the field. I truly love this club, it’s the only one I’ll ever support in the US, but I do long for stability. For me, the potential for stability is in place with ownership and interest, but so long as the structures of US Soccer are in place as they are, and as long as Cosmos are even perceived as a threat to the two other franchises in town, everything will be a battle, not really for wins, goals, trophies, promotion, whatever - but for the right to exist as a soccer club. That’s pretty insane isn’t it?

Partick with NY Cosmos owner, Rocco Commisso

What are your thoughts on the upcoming Founders' Cup?
I’m genuinely very excited for Founders Cup in 2019, kind of going back to the last question an elaborating more, when you have such a crazy club situation off the field, the fans who support this club are die hard. I mean, really die hard. Founders Cup will be an awesome league for die-hard fans, I think there’s serious potential for Cosmos, Detroit, Chattanooga, the Miami clubs, Oakland and the rest to really create something truly different in a US Soccer landscape that I think is desperate for some creativity. With that said, this isn’t going to be easy, and I don’t say it lightly that I think NPSL and its clubs are going to have to do just about everything right for this to last. It’s new, experimental, it will be received with hostility from most of US Soccer, it has more ways to fail than it does to succeed, but I think from the league office to the individual clubs and even the owners and ideas that exist in the rest of NPSL’s structure, there are some brilliant minds. The right people are involved, let’s see what they can do.

Thoughts on the pro league NPSL is putting together? What role do you see the Cosmos playing in that?

As for the Cosmos role in the future of NPSL, I think New York Cosmos brings with it a degree of credibility, I’m of no illusions that we’re a massive world-beating club at the moment, but I do recognize that our name is famous and carries weight. Not just the 70’s and 80’s Cosmos either, my Cosmos, the Cosmos of Marcos Senna & Giovanni Savarese & Danny Szetela left a lasting legacy and I think bringing that to NPSL and the league’s long term visions will be a very big boost. But no single club is going to be able to make or break NPSL, just like the amateur league, its a group effort, it should be owned and operated by the clubs, and there should be a collaborative mentality for all members that will strengthen the league and it’s competition. 

The lower league landscape in this country is the wild west currently. Do you follow it much?

I follow the lower leagues in the US closer than any other soccer, which definitely makes me a bit of a weirdo in the industry I’m in I think but, whatever, I love it. The lower leagues in the US are absolutely a wild west, things change every year, clubs are launched and folded every year, leagues are changing names, tiers, sanctioning, it’s craziness. The best thing that could happen for the game in this country is for the lower leagues to find some sort of symbiotic system that benefits everyone, I don’t have the answers for how to make that happen, I’d personally love to see a four-division tiered system with gradual promotion & relegation implemented. Will we see it? I don’t know, I don’t know how to influence the Federation, so my solution is to support my local team with my voice and my wallet.

Patrick with former coach of the NY Cosmos and current coach the Portland Timbers Giovanni Savarese

With Copa90, you cover the sport through a global lens. What does this country need to do to become a world power in soccer? What role do you see USSF playing in that transition?

I am a huge proponent of US Soccer making steps to align itself with the global game. I think we need to maintain a uniqueness to our approach here, but I think at the core of things, we need to bring ourselves into reality. I’m cool with the March-November season, I get it, I’m cool with playoffs, they’re fun! But I think in a country like this, with so many cities and clubs looking to find success and relevance in the regional, national, and global game - there has to be a way into the top flight that doesn’t involved a franchise expansion fee and submitting to a closed single-entity league. Cosmos won 3 titles in D2 in 5 years, but I won’t make this about my club, take a look at Louisville City FC. They’ve managed to build an authentic club culture in a city void of professional sports, they’re building a state-of-the-art 10k seat stadium, they’ll continue to grow and eventually they’re going to hit a ceiling. I know that USL has big aspirations and the clubs will grow with the league certainly, but why shouldn’t a club like Louisville, who are now 2x champions, be able to work their way into the next level? Look at Detroit City FC, I’ll regret saying nice things about them when we’re in the Founders Cup together, but what they’ve built has been nothing short of extraordinary. In a few years they’ve built a fanbase that rivals several clubs in MLS, they renovated a public stadium through fundraising, they’ve lured clubs from all over the world to play against them. Detroit City has been successful with little to no help from the system US Soccer has in place, in fact I think their success is directly correlated with their irreverence to it. Treat yourselves like a big club and you’ll become one, the US Soccer system won’t let you move up so they just filled out the space their in, and now everyone’s taking notice. 

We spotted your band Morning Comes Early in your social media. How are things going with that?

Thanks for checking out my band! We honestly don’t do all that much anymore, we play a few hometown shows when I go back to Vermont and pack 100 kids into someone’s basement, but the era of playing a lot of shows and doing weekend tours slowed a bit after college. With that said, we still play, we still write, and I think we might put out a few acoustic singles in the next month or so. Stay tuned for that!

The New NPSL League: Skepticism, Optimism, Reality

What if I said there’s a new thing in the lower leagues that’s like cotton candy, Jesus, and a new Star Wars film? Ephemeral, difficult to define, full of hope and promise, thrilling in theory, troubling in its potential to fail, hard to understand, easy to poke holes in, far enough in the future to remain fuzzy, near enough to find the fuzziness worrisome, attacked by purists, elites, true believers, non-believers, skeptics, and the faithful. All of these things are true of the words on every lower league soccer fan’s lips - Founders Cup and the professional league to follow.

The Facts

NPSL Founder’s Cup is the still-developing professional league emerging from the NPSL. Set to kick off a full season in 2020, the clubs involved will play in a kick-off tournament called the NPSL Founders Cup in the Fall of 2019. In November, NPSL Chairman Joe Barone described the situation - “Beginning with the Founders Cup, fans will be able to enjoy watching authentic clubs compete with professional players and staff. This new venture will build upon the success and experience of NPSL and its nationwide network of local soccer club members.” Barone has since been replaced as Chair, but the plans for the new league continue to move forward.

I should be upfront in saying that Protagonist Soccer is a media partner of the NPSL and, while that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t criticize the league, that relationship may color the way some of my stated views might be received. So there it is - there’s the elephant in the room. Moving on.

The list of clubs involved so far are ASC San Diego, Cal FC, California United Strikers FC, Chattanooga FC, Detroit City FC, FC Arizona, Miami FC, Miami United FC, Milwaukee Torrent, New York Cosmos, and Oakland Roots - some of the strongest sides in the NPSL, depending on how you measure strength. DCFC and Chattanooga FC are two of the best attended and supported clubs in the lower leagues, even if you bunched USL into “lower leagues” (Against USL attendance numbers this year, DCFC would rank 7th and Chatta would be 19th). If you are measuring strength with financial backing, obviously the two old NASL sides, New York Cosmos and Miami FC, have two of the richest owners in the lower leagues, Rocco Commisso and Riccardo Silva. The rest of the clubs are not quite to the level of the four I mentioned, but more on that to come.

The Reception

As I discussed on a recent episode of the Lower League Soccer Show, the announcement of this league has brought the hot takes from both sides of the argument. And, by definition, hot takes are meant to stir up controversy and spur reactions, but dear God, the unbridled optimism of some has only been matched by the sheer negativity of the other side.

For some, the coming of a professional expansion of NPSL is seen as a lower league response to the “encroachment” by USL into areas with established NPSL and UPSL sides. Those same people despise MLS for all the reasons that people despise MLS, most importantly the lack of pro/rel. And while pro/rel hasn’t been discussed publicly yet, many are hopeful that NPSL Pro will eventually open up the gates for promotion from the NPSL.

On the other side, scepticism is out of control. Some is coming from the old guard in the NPSL who see this upcoming professional league as nothing more than catering to the ex-NASL teams. Other criticism is coming from the other lower leagues’ supporters NPSL has competed against, mainly UPSL. That criticism seems to be more in the vein of “stay in your lane, who do you think you are,” which feels more like jealousy than actual criticism. The last camp of criticism is from the MLS types, who seem convinced that this league will fail and deserves mockery. I will never understand an American soccer fan rooting for a club or league to fail. But they exist, I assure you, just look for the side eye trolling online.

The Issues

While the loudest voices get the most attention online, there’s a segment of the soccer world who have concerns but aren’t burning down the house to make their point. I like to think of these types as the cautiously optimistic. They aren’t wishing for the league to fail, but they are worried about some issues that might arise. I’d like to compile a quick list of these issues and offer my takes as well.

Photo from reddit u/DomeyDion.

Attendance - When listing the strengths of the league earlier, I highlighted the drawing power of Detroit City and Chattanooga. Let’s look at the other teams we have information on. According to Kenn Tomasch’s site, Kenn.com, ASC San Diego drew around 1,000 people for home games (large aside: 1. Massive thanks to Tomasch, who is the only person online I could find trying to track this information. 2. Tomasch is the first to admit his information is severely limited. He begs for more information on his site. Teams should be lining up to help him.). The worst part about this is that ASC San Diego is the only other NPSL Pro club Tomasch has attendance information on. So who knows about the other 8 clubs, leaving a gap in the information leads me to speculate, but I’ll leave it be.

So with only three clubs with information, our data is short on attendance. What I would expect is that NPSL will bring some buzz around the clubs that are in the league. So all should expect a bump, at least in year one. After that, it will all depend on marketing and connecting with fans. Unlike MLS, who uses expansion fees to drive league growth, this NPSL professional league will have to focus on bringing fans through the doors. And if the newcomers can follow the model of DCFC or Chattanooga, maybe that can happen. My concern on that is TIME.

Unlike Detroit City, founded in 2012, and Chattanooga FC, founded in 2009, the newer clubs don’t have 6-10 years to get attendance, they have a year or three to escalate attendance and excitement. Maybe that’s too short of a window for the optimists, but I’m trying to be realistic. I think to get to where they need to be, they need a media deal.

Media Deal - Consider the model of MLS, even if it hurts you for a minute. While clearly expansion fees are funding their organization. According to wikipedia, “ESPN and Fox Sports pay a combined $75 million per season, and Univision pays $15 million per-season.” That’s 90 million a season. That’s aside from local broadcasting deals that some clubs have managed to negotiate. If you’re struggling to fill the seats, media money can help a lot. Or if you’re a brand new league who’s trying to get a foothold into local markets across the country.

“If creating a pro league was easy, we’d be overrun with pro soccer leagues.”

I’m only working with the information I have here, but several NPSL owners have voiced concerns in private about the lack of a media deal. Even a small deal that didn’t generate a ton of revenue could have the desired effect of drawing eyes to a brand new league. That might drive potential revenue streams in advertising, merchandise sales, and expansion markets. A media deal is a must.

Travel Cost - Consider the distance that Detroit City FC has to travel to their farthest current conference opponent, Milwaukee Torrent - 382 miles. When DCFC moves into Pro (even with the regional divide), the farthest distance will be 1,384 miles (Miami, FL). Even if you limited the number of travelers to 20 (11 starters, 5 bench players, 3 coaches, a trainer), the only way to travel will be by plane for a trip that long. Plus the cost of hotel rooms for overnight stay. Plus feeding your team (these are professionals now). Plus transportation to and from airport, hotel, and venue. This is troubling. And I don’t see an easy fix. For clubs with deep-pocketed owners, I guess they can eat that cost, but for clubs either unable or unwilling to take a loss because of travel costs, I see this as a sticking point. According to one source, the travel budget being discussed is around 400k. That’s almost a third of the estimated 1.5 million budget most teams will be operating under.

The only real solution I can see is expansion and regionalization. But again, with only 11 clubs confirmed for 2020, that’s a long way off. And money will be disappearing down the drain while those new clubs are found or founded.

There are probably some other issues hanging out there, the naysayers are loud and numerous. But that doesn’t necessarily make them right. The concerns I listed were the ones I’ve heard the most and the ones I feel are the most common sense.

The Reality

The list of concerns are daunting, of course, but I’m a big believer in the NPSL, the clubs, the owners, the fans, and the power of hard work. If creating a pro league was easy, we’d be overrun with pro soccer leagues. MLS, SUM, and USSF have made it progressively difficult for pro leagues to be successful. If not now, I seriously doubt it will be easier five or ten years from now. This is an uphill battle, but it’s an important battle, one worth fighting.

My list of concerns has almost certainly been discussed by the 11 clubs set to form this league. While I don’t see easy solutions for any of them, I do not think the men and women involved are stupid or blind to the challenge. On the contrary, I am confident that there are solutions and that those solutions are being planned. Some may say that’s ignorant trust, but the NPSL has been the most stable lower league for the last fifteen years. It has a track record of measured, steady growth. Why shouldn’t NPSL Pro be the next step?

So we shall see what comes. I am certainly excited about this league, but that excitement is tempered by an awareness of stumbling blocks that will need to be cleared. Success can be found, but it will take great effort in searching for it. I am a believer in soccer, especially lower league soccer - this can be done. Let’s put our shoulders to the wheel and move this thing forward.

- Dan Vaughn

*This article was edited to delete the use of the phrase “NPSL Pro.” Apparently the upcoming league will not be using that name and has yet to determine or announce the final label for the league.