Circle it — 2007 likely will be remembered as the year Major League Soccer stepped onto the U.S. sports stage.
It was a year defined by the word new: two new stadiums, one new team, three expansion franchises awarded, five new jersey sponsors, four new ownership groups, one new tournament, two new TV partners and one international megastar.
“If it wasn’t the biggest year MLS has had, it’s got to be pretty darn close,” said Gary Stevenson, a Wasserman Media Group principal. “The momentum is quite remarkable.”
The foundation for the league’s success in 2007 was laid during 2005 and 2006. The most critical step took place in 2005 when Commissioner Don Garber worked with international and regional governing bodies to secure the league’s first television rights agreements with ESPN and Univision. Both networks became official media partners in 2007, paying MLS an estimated $18 million to broadcast games last year.
Another key decision made in 2005 occurred when MLS’s board approved an expansion franchise in Toronto and added Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment as an operator. The new club, Toronto FC, debuted in 2007 with 14,000 season tickets sold before the start of the season — more than any team in MLS history. It went on to sell out every game.
During the summer of 2006, MLS’s board approved a rule allowing clubs to sell jersey sponsorships. Five clubs went on to sell rights to their jerseys in 2007, generating $12 million in new revenue for the league.
WHAT PEOPLE
ARE SAYING:
“Soccer is growing by leaps and bounds. If you were to say which leagues are on the upswing, clearly, clearly, you would put them first.”
GARY STEVENSON
Wasserman Media Group
In November 2006, the board approved the designated player rule that would allow teams to sign players whose salary would be exempt from salary cap restrictions. As a result, the league added not only David Beckham in 2007 but also Mexican soccer star Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Colombian striker Juan Pablo Angel. The stars helped lift league attendance and ratings. MLS attracted 3.26 million spectators in 2007, a 9 percent increase from 2006. Ratings gained a much-needed boost, increasing from an average 0.2 and 196,000 households in 2006 to an average of 0.3 and 267,000 households in 2007.
The league’s new tournament, SuperLiga, delivered similar results in its inaugural year. The event, which was designed to enhance the league’s ties to Hispanics by pitting MLS clubs against Mexican clubs, averaged 16,483 spectators through 15 games and collected an average 0.3 household rating on Univision’s Telefutura.
The league’s performance on all fronts resonated with potential investors. Victor McFarlane and Will Chang bought D.C. United for more than $30 million, Andrew Hauptman bought the Chicago Fire for an estimated $35 million, and Joe Roth, Adrian Hanauer and Paul Allen combined to buy an expansion team in Seattle for an estimated $30 million. Lewis Wolff and John Fisher also exercised an option for a team in San Jose.
Prominent names in sports business, including George Gillett, Arthur Blank and the Wilpon family, are looking to acquire MLS franchises, and cities such as Miami, St. Louis and Vancouver are clamoring for teams, as well.
The interest has surprised even soccer’s most diehard supporters.
“If you had said to me three years ago that people would be lining up to buy MLS teams, much less at the price they would be willing to pay, I would have said, ‘Yeah, right,’” said Sunil Gulati, president of U.S. Soccer and Kraft Soccer. “It’s been an extraordinary shift.”
Adding David Beckham, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and other designated players raised the league’s profile, increased ratings and attendance, and improved the competitive level of play on the field.
