MetroStars/Red Bulls (professional soccer team)
The MetroStars were formed after the 1994 World Cup revived interest in soccer. The team was sometimes called the "New York-New Jersey MetroStars."
In March 2006, the team was renamed the New York Red Bulls. Like the "New York" Giants, the team plays at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MetroStars
The MetroStars was the name of a soccer club based in New Jersey that participated in Major League Soccer between 1996 and 2005. On March 9, 2006, the club was purchased by Red Bull and re-branded as Red Bull New York with the playing team being known as the New York Red Bulls.
The club played its home matches at Giants Stadium located at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford; the headquarters were located in Secaucus. The team colors were red, black, and gold. During the team's first season, the Metrostars had solid black or solid white jerseys and during all other seasons, the home jerseys had red and black vertical stripes. The MetroStars were known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars through 1997. The team's name came from MetroMedia, a company owned by the club's original owner/operator John Kluge.
http://metrostars.mlsnet.com/MLS/met/load.jsp?section=about&content=timeline
6/15/94
New York/New Jersey is named to be an MLS team location.
6/16-7/10/94
Giants Stadium plays host to seven sold-out World Cup Games on an impeccable Bermuda grass field. In all, 525,000 fans watch the world's greatest sports spectacle at Giants Stadium.
11/1/94
Charlie Stillitano, the NY/NJ Venue Executive Director during the World Cup, is named Vice President and General Manager of the MLS team, then known as the Empire Soccer Club.
6/6/95
The original 10 teams are in place. Metromedia's John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick are announced as the investor-operators of the team that will play in Giants Stadium.
8/4-8/6/95
The Empire Soccer Club shows commitment to local soccer fans by holding the Parmalat Cup. The event draws 80,000 spectators over two days. Benfica, Parma, Boca Juniors and the U.S. National Team put on a grand show at Giants Stadium, which is again adorned with a natural grass surface.
10/17/95
The Palladium nightclub in New York is host to "MLS Unveiled." Amid bright lights and high-decibel music, a world-class soccer league is born, complete with bold, colorful uniforms and some brash team nicknames. It is announced that the NY/NJ team will be known as the MetroStars and its first player will be local hero Tab Ramos, who dons a MetroStars uniform in public for the first time.
17 October 1995, USA Today, pg. 2C:
Eastern Conference - Columbus (Ohio) Crew, Washington (D.C.) United, New England Revolution, New York-New Jersey Metrostars, Tampa Bay Mutiny
17 October 1995, New York Times, pg. B10:
The signings of John Harkes and Tony Meola, along with several other stars of last year's World Cup team, will be among the major announcements made today by Major League Soccer, the United States-based league that will open play next spring as the legacy of the 1994 World Cup.
The nicknames and logos of the 10 teams in the league also will be revealed at a news conference in Manhattan this afternoon, along with the allocations of the league's marquee players.
Metromedia, which owns the New York-New Jersey team that will play at Giants Stadium, contemplated buying the rights to the name Cosmos, according to sources, but decided to go with the name MetroStars.
In March 2006, the team was renamed the New York Red Bulls. Like the "New York" Giants, the team plays at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MetroStars
The MetroStars was the name of a soccer club based in New Jersey that participated in Major League Soccer between 1996 and 2005. On March 9, 2006, the club was purchased by Red Bull and re-branded as Red Bull New York with the playing team being known as the New York Red Bulls.
The club played its home matches at Giants Stadium located at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford; the headquarters were located in Secaucus. The team colors were red, black, and gold. During the team's first season, the Metrostars had solid black or solid white jerseys and during all other seasons, the home jerseys had red and black vertical stripes. The MetroStars were known as the New York/New Jersey MetroStars through 1997. The team's name came from MetroMedia, a company owned by the club's original owner/operator John Kluge.
http://metrostars.mlsnet.com/MLS/met/load.jsp?section=about&content=timeline
6/15/94
New York/New Jersey is named to be an MLS team location.
6/16-7/10/94
Giants Stadium plays host to seven sold-out World Cup Games on an impeccable Bermuda grass field. In all, 525,000 fans watch the world's greatest sports spectacle at Giants Stadium.
11/1/94
Charlie Stillitano, the NY/NJ Venue Executive Director during the World Cup, is named Vice President and General Manager of the MLS team, then known as the Empire Soccer Club.
6/6/95
The original 10 teams are in place. Metromedia's John Kluge and Stuart Subotnick are announced as the investor-operators of the team that will play in Giants Stadium.
8/4-8/6/95
The Empire Soccer Club shows commitment to local soccer fans by holding the Parmalat Cup. The event draws 80,000 spectators over two days. Benfica, Parma, Boca Juniors and the U.S. National Team put on a grand show at Giants Stadium, which is again adorned with a natural grass surface.
10/17/95
The Palladium nightclub in New York is host to "MLS Unveiled." Amid bright lights and high-decibel music, a world-class soccer league is born, complete with bold, colorful uniforms and some brash team nicknames. It is announced that the NY/NJ team will be known as the MetroStars and its first player will be local hero Tab Ramos, who dons a MetroStars uniform in public for the first time.
17 October 1995, USA Today, pg. 2C:
Eastern Conference - Columbus (Ohio) Crew, Washington (D.C.) United, New England Revolution, New York-New Jersey Metrostars, Tampa Bay Mutiny
17 October 1995, New York Times, pg. B10:
The signings of John Harkes and Tony Meola, along with several other stars of last year's World Cup team, will be among the major announcements made today by Major League Soccer, the United States-based league that will open play next spring as the legacy of the 1994 World Cup.
The nicknames and logos of the 10 teams in the league also will be revealed at a news conference in Manhattan this afternoon, along with the allocations of the league's marquee players.
Metromedia, which owns the New York-New Jersey team that will play at Giants Stadium, contemplated buying the rights to the name Cosmos, according to sources, but decided to go with the name MetroStars.