On The Ground In Beijing With MLS Commissioner Don Garber

Garber To Tour China After Attending First Week Of Beijing Olympics

MLS Commissioner Don Garber has attended two Olympic Games and is making it three this week in Beijing. Garber took some time to share his take on the Games with SportsBusiness Journal Staff Writer Tripp Mickle before yesterday's Nigeria-U.S. soccer match.

Q: How long are you here?

Garber: I'm here for the first week in Beijing, and my family and I are traveling around the rest of China for another week. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Xiling.

Q: What have you seen?

Garber: I've attended badminton. I saw the (Michael) Phelps relay (Monday). Volleyball. Gymnastics tomorrow. Toured the Great Wall, which was a fantastic experience. Tiananmen Square today. It's one of the most interesting and rapidly changing places in the world, and I wanted to get here and experience some of it.

Q: What are your impressions to date?

Garber: I think it's unbelievable, incredibly well organized. Logistics are just flawless. People are extremely friendly. Thousands of volunteers appear in seemingly limited security presence. It just really seems very smooth.

Q: What have you noticed about the state of sport here?

Garber: One thing that strikes me is the NBA presence and the basketball presence here is significant. You see kids walking around with NBA jerseys and talking about the sport and the league more so than I had expected. It's clearly the model without a doubt.

Q: Have you bumped into anyone here you didn't expect to see?

Garber: I bumped into Paul Tagliabue at the swimming match. It was just great to see him. It was a great surprise.

For more on Tripp's interview with Don Garber, go to our Beijing microsite at www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/beijinggames