New York Cosmos billboard near Red Bull Arena kicks off Big Apple turf war

On Twitter, there's already a hashtag for it: #NYCSoccerWarz.

It's largely meant to be tongue-in-cheek, as evidenced by the Z – because nothing makes a statement ironic like adding a Z – but the New York Cosmos upped the competition for the hearts and minds of New York's consumers of soccer on Wednesday by putting up a billboard right off the interstate by Red Bull Arena.

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The Cosmos, of the North American Soccer League, are now in competition with the New York Red Bulls (an original Major League Soccer franchise as the MetroStars) and MLS expansion side New York City FC. The billboard advertises the Cosmos' home opener and its star Spaniards Raul and Marcos Senna. It also has the image of their head coach, Giovanni Savarese, on it. Savarese was an original MetroStar and an early fan favorite.

But here's the other twist. The Cosmos billboard now stands opposite the one bought by a group of unhappy Red Bulls fans, which went up on Tuesday. They are upset with club ownership for firing their beloved manager Mike Petke and the direction of the franchise.

The Red Bulls, for their part, say they aren't bothered about the Cosmos' incursion into their territory. "It's good to see as much soccer in the New York Metro area as possible," Red Bulls Vice President of Communications and Marketing Joe Stetson told FC Yahoo in an email. "We've been in this market – in New York, New Jersey and Long Island – for 20 years now and have had over a dozen billboards in the New York/New Jersey area just this past year. It's great that the area is a multi-team town like it is for other sports and hopefully, together, we can amplify the sport and our local teams' coverage in the marketplace."

Let the #NYCSoccerWarz begin.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.