MLS Commissioner Garber Discusses Issues Facing League

Garber Says Construction Of Soccer-Specific Stadiums Has Enhanced MLS Credibility

MLS Commissioner Don Garber yesterday said the "increase in the asset value of our teams is really a function of more and more people believing in the game and wanting to invest in it." Garber: "As revenues grow the opportunity for charging more for expansion fees continues to grow. But ultimately that’s a market factor as opposed to something that really drives our decision making.” Garber added of the league's expansion efforts, “It’s conceivable that we end up with a regional concentration. ... At this stage of our development we’re much better off having successful teams that are wildly popular and got strong fan bases and can really be a great model for us to take to other parts of the country than we are trying to think about how we lay out a league geographically.” Meanwhile, Garber said the rise of soccer-specific stadiums has "helped our economics, it’s helped our presentation of the game, it’s helped our credibility, both with our existing fan base but also with our connection with the rest of the world."

BUILDING SUPPORT: Garber said the availability of every MLS game either on TV or over the Internet is “part of what we believe makes us a major league in this country and really is a distinction that separates our sport from some of the other emerging sports. Our goal is to try and make our productions better and try to grow our ratings and do all those things that people take for granted with the other leagues.” Garber also said rights fees have been a "big ship for us. In the early days we had to beg, borrow and steal to be able to get those deals done.” Meanwhile, despite Galaxy MF David Beckham's loan to Italian Serie A club AC Milan and a report that Beckham can opt out of his Galaxy contract after '09, Garber said, "Our expectations are that David will be here for many, many years to come.” He added Beckham "gave us the audience outside of the core." Garber: "Now our goal is to get deeper into our core audience, but also try to go out and spend as much time as we can expanding that audience so our fan base continues to grow” (SPORTSBUSINESSRADIO.com, 11/8).