Soccer United Marketing President Kathy Carter has confirmed that she is "exploring a run" for U.S. Soccer President, according to Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.com. A source said that Carter is in "'the final stages' of formalizing her bid," and "put her chances of running at '95 percent.'" The source added that Carter "has gone so far as to hire an outside agency separate from SUM and MLS to handle the logistics of her campaign." Multiple sources indicated that if Carter does run, it is a "strong indicator" that current USSF President Sunil Gulati "will decide not to seek re-election." A source indicated that Carter is "running at the urging of Gulati" and MLS Commissioner Don Garber. Should Carter "formally announce her intentions to run, she would be the only woman in a crowded field" of candidates. Carter has previously served as AEG VP/Sales & Marketing and Envision VP. While Carter's resume is "extensive, she will run into resistance from some segments of the USSF's voting membership that view her tenure at SUM as problematic" (ESPN.com, 12/3). SB NATION's Parker Cleveland wrote there has been a "surprising amount of silence" from Gulati. Putting aside Carter’s "ability to run the federation, picking the President of SUM looks fairly problematic on first glance." There is the "obvious risk of conflict of interest and regulatory capture." One way that SUM makes money is by "selling the marketing rights" for the USMNT and USWMNT, and having the former president of the company running USSF "would be problematic." Carter "obviously doesn’t have a platform, but it is fair to assume that she would be among the silent insiders looking to protect the status quo" rather than "bring about the difficult changes needed to improve soccer in this country" (SBNATION.com, 12/3).
TWITTER REAX: The Ringer's Bill Simmons, on initial reports of Carter running: "I hope this is true because Kathy Carter is f’n awesome - been trying to get her on my podcast. Super smart and loves soccer. " Soccer broadcaster Glenn Davis tweeted, "The next two months in U.S. Soccer are going to be very interesting." SB Nation's Kevin McCauley: "I'm going to give Kathy Carter a chance to tell us who she'd hire to run the technical side and how she'd invest in that area. But it's OK if 'SUM president for USSF president' leaves a bad taste in your mouth."
