MLS Commissioner Don Garber conducted a year-end state of the league event yesterday in N.Y. Sitting in on a roundtable format, Garber made a statement and took questions from reporters and broadcasters from the MLS broadcast partners -- ESPN, Fox Sports, Univision Deportes, RDS and SiriusXM. Garber said that the league and its clubs are combining to lose more than $100M annually. He attributed the losses to player acquisitions, stadiums and spending on league infrastructure, including youth academies. Garber also said the league is continuing discussions with players regarding a new CBA. “The league isn’t performing financially the way we would like, and I think the players accept that,” he said. Garber noted that the league has been upfront regarding financial performance with the players, and that the league needs to sign a deal that helps to continue to grow the league (Ian Thomas, Staff Writer). Garber said, "I can say without doubt that our owners did not expect that by this time we'd still be needing to invest the level of money that we have been investing, and that's just the reality of where our business is today." The AP's Tim Booth noted Garber was "optimistic a deal will be reached" before the '15 season (AP, 12/2).
BUILDING OUT, BUILDING UP: Garber said MLS owners will likely decide in the first half of '15 “on when the next team or the next two teams are coming in.” In Sacramento, Dale Kasler notes it had "been widely assumed that Sacramento is competing against Minneapolis and Las Vegas for a single slot, and that no additional expansion will occur for the foreseeable future." But Garber’s remarks "appeared to raise the tantalizing possibility that additional expansion franchises could be awarded next year." He said the MLS BOG, meeting Saturday in L.A. on the eve of the MLS Cup, will "get a report from the league’s expansion committee." The committee "heard presentations from Sacramento, Minneapolis and Las Vegas last month." Garber’s comments "underscored the fluid and somewhat confusing situation the league is confronting." MLS’ goal is 24 teams by '20, and it will "add two teams next season and two more" in '17, for a total of 22. The league has awarded Miami a 23rd franchise, "but that’s in limbo" because the city and David Beckham "haven’t been able to come up with a plan for a new stadium." Garber said, “We want to be in Miami." But he added, "If we don’t have the right stadium, we’re not going." Kasler notes if Miami "falls out of contention, that could open up an additional spot for Sacramento and its competitors." Additionally, Garber "didn’t rule out expanding beyond 24 teams at some point" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 12/3). Meanwhile, Garber said that he expects new stadiums in N.Y. and Boston for expansion club NYC FC and the Revolution, respectively. He noted NYC FC thought it had a stadium deal in place, but it collapsed. Garber called playing at Yankee Stadium "temporary" (Thomas).
TALKING ABOUT PLAYOFFS? Garber said that the league has discussed expanding the playoffs by two teams to 12, but that no decision has been made yet. The details will be further discussed at Saturday's BOG meeting (Thomas). Garber said of playoff expansion, "What is compelling about that idea is that today you have three teams that are basically guaranteed a spot. They basically get a bye. Today if we are looking at those 12 teams, that would only go down to two ... so while there would be more teams in, a higher percentage than we have today, we believe once we have 24 teams that it makes more sense" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 12/3).
CANDID CAMERA: ESPN FC's Doug McIntyre noted MLS held the roundtable in place of a "traditional press conference or teleconference." The new format "produced a back-and-forth that was much harder-hitting than usual." Before the session began, Garber "made it clear that no subject was off limits." He "implored the panel not to hold back, saying he wanted to have a 'real conversation.'" But Garber still "skillfully bobbed and weaved his way around questions he either wouldn't or couldn't answer (like the status of the David Beckham-backed Miami expansion project; or whether the league would be able to retain emerging Mexican national team striker Erik 'Cubo' Torres)." Other queries -- such as whether or not MF Frank Lampard "would join NYCFC in time for the Manchester City-owned club's 2015 debut -- fell victim to the event's one-hour timeframe and never got asked at all" (ESPNFC.com, 12/2).
