Major League Soccer
Don Garber Meets Media, Talks Lampard & Expansion
The MLS Commissioner's job description includes being a cheerleader for the league, something Don Garber seems to relish. Yesterday he fielded questions about the Frank Lampard fiasco, and more.
PHILADELPHIA—Mea culpa’s are not Don Garber’s strong suit. And in fairness to the Major League Soccer commissioner who has shepherded the league from life support in the early part of the 21st century to a growing, thriving league, there aren’t often causes for him to stand up and utter a collective, “Our bad.”
He’s generally very positive and tries to find the lemonade from even the sourest of lemons. (We're looking at you, Chivas USA.)
But the league's messy handling of the Frank Lampard signing with expansion New York City FC was not MLS' finest hour and Garber admitted as much when he met with the media gathered here for the league’s annual SuperDraft.
“It certainly wasn’t a positive thing for the league," Garber said. "It wasn’t positive for what we are trying to do in New York City and we have all acknowledged that."
To recap: Last summer NYCFC announced the signing of Lampard, the longtime Chelsea star and England international, saying he’d been signed by MLS to a designated player deal to play for the expansion team. Then in August it was announced he’d be loaned to Manchester City, which co-owns NYCFC with the New York Yankees, until January 1. Then, after Lampard became an impact player for the second-best team in the Premier League, it was announced he’d stay the entire season and wouldn’t be coming to New York until July. Shortly after that it was revealed Lampard hadn’t actually signed an MLS contract but had signed with the ownership group of both teams, thus calling MLS’ credibility and honesty into question.
MLS and NYCFC “characterized it improperly,” said Garber, who added it was never NYCFC’s intent to mislead fans.
“You heard NYCFC say it and Man City say it," Garber continued. "You heard me say it: It could have been handled better and it needs to be handled better going forward. We’ve learned lessons from this, and those lessons are that transparency is more and more important. There was not enough information made available to the public at the time and the information made available was not all correct, so we have to be ultra-focused on getting these things right.”
After taking his medicine on the league’s behalf on LampardGate, Garber reverted back to his platitude-dishing self. Part of his job is to be the bullish public face on MLS and its growth and he did that with typical aplomb in Philadelphia.
Garber also gave updates on the collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the players’ union. The league’s previous CBA does not apply to 2015, leaving open the possibility of a work stoppage.
"You always go into these things with optimism, and I think the players do as well, but we recognize—and they do too—that they are tough and generally go to the last minute,” he said. “That is just the way labor negotiations go generally in this country. But we go into this with the expectation to do a deal. We have issues that we have to battle through. It takes time and it takes a lot of focus.”
Garber said talks will resume next week in Washington, D.C., and he expects to take part.
"They are very active and ongoing. There have been proposals going back and forth. I will say the dynamic is more positive than it was five years ago. Players are smarter, the union is more experienced. We have a better understanding what the issues are. We are more mature, they are more mature. We are going to continue to go through what is important to them and have them understand the dynamic in which we are going to be making decisions.”
The conversation quickly segued to topics Garber is happier talking about like potential expansion teams and either new soccer stadiums that are opening up for MLS teams or the talks to get one for teams like the New England Revolution and NYCFC.
“I can honestly tell you that 10 years ago we did not think we’d have as many stadiums as we have," he said. "There’s a lot of energy in Boston which we're very excited about. We’re hopeful to get something done there,” adding that Boston becoming the U.S. Olympic committee’s choice to bid for the 2024 Summer Games could help the effort to secure a downtown stadium.
As for NYCFC, which is stuck sharing Yankee Stadium for the indefinite future, Garber said, “We know that they’re active and they’ve had ongoing discussions. It’s a big focus for them and we’re very hopeful that they’re going to be able to be in a position to have a stadium for that club.
“It’s just going to take some time. It’s a difficult market.”
Besides the explosion of soccer stadiums, expansion has been Garber’s greatest legacy and the league is set to add two more teams in 2017—in Atlanta and Los Angeles—with plans to add two more by the end of the decade. David Beckham’s Miami bid remains in play pending a stadium deal and the competition for the final slot—or slots if Miami is a no-go—for that round of expansion is growing.
Sacramento, Minneapolis, and San Antonio are the frontrunners, with Las Vegas a longshot. Garber indicated that St. Louis is also in play.
“I am going to be out in St. Louis in the next couple of weeks," Garber revealed. "St. Louis has got a lot of activity going on with a stadium they are trying to get done for the (NFL’s) Rams. There is a big soccer community there and we would love to see the soccer stadium downtown like they are thinking about with a football stadium.
"San Antonio has been very active. There is a lot of stuff going on. There is a lot of interest in expansion.”
Minneapolis actually has two different ownership groups vying to bring an expansion team there. One, which appears to be favored by a majority of soccer fans in the Twin Cities, is led by the owners of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and Major League Baseball’s Twins in partnership with the owners of the NASL’s Minnesota United. However, they don’t have a plan for a stadium secured, which is a major hurdle needed to clear, despite their deep pockets and ties to both the sporting and soccer communities.
The other is led by Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, who plans to have the team follow the Atlanta expansion model and play in a new NFL stadium.
"It’s very positive that we have multiple owners in an important market that want to come into Major League Soccer. We have got a lot of decisions we need to make. We are bullish on Minneapolis. We think it’s a good market, it’s an important market for us strategically from a geographic perspective,” Garber said. “We love the two ownership groups. We’ve been spending time with both of them. We have work to do with both groups. But I’m very bullish on the market.”
One black mark for Wilf, besides sharing a cavernous NFL stadium, is his ongoing legal issues. The Vikings owner and his brother were found liable by a New Jersey court of breaking state racketeering laws and keeping shady books to dupe his partners out of shares of a family real estate business’ revenue. As part of the case a judge ordered Wilf and his family to pay $84.5 million in fines and restitution.
Garber, however, claimed to be unfamiliar with these proceedings. “I don’t know anything about his legal issues,” he snapped.
Brooke Tunstall is an American Soccer Now contributing editor and ASN 100 panelist. You can follow him on Twitter.
MLS and NYCFC “characterized it improperly,” said Garber, who added it was never NYCFC’s intent to mislead fans.
“You heard NYCFC say it and Man City say it," Garber continued. "You heard me say it: It could have been handled better and it needs to be handled better going forward. We’ve learned lessons from this, and those lessons are that transparency is more and more important. There was not enough information made available to the public at the time and the information made available was not all correct, so we have to be ultra-focused on getting these things right.”
After taking his medicine on the league’s behalf on LampardGate, Garber reverted back to his platitude-dishing self. Part of his job is to be the bullish public face on MLS and its growth and he did that with typical aplomb in Philadelphia.
Garber also gave updates on the collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the players’ union. The league’s previous CBA does not apply to 2015, leaving open the possibility of a work stoppage.
"You always go into these things with optimism, and I think the players do as well, but we recognize—and they do too—that they are tough and generally go to the last minute,” he said. “That is just the way labor negotiations go generally in this country. But we go into this with the expectation to do a deal. We have issues that we have to battle through. It takes time and it takes a lot of focus.”
Garber said talks will resume next week in Washington, D.C., and he expects to take part.
"They are very active and ongoing. There have been proposals going back and forth. I will say the dynamic is more positive than it was five years ago. Players are smarter, the union is more experienced. We have a better understanding what the issues are. We are more mature, they are more mature. We are going to continue to go through what is important to them and have them understand the dynamic in which we are going to be making decisions.”
The conversation quickly segued to topics Garber is happier talking about like potential expansion teams and either new soccer stadiums that are opening up for MLS teams or the talks to get one for teams like the New England Revolution and NYCFC.
“I can honestly tell you that 10 years ago we did not think we’d have as many stadiums as we have," he said. "There’s a lot of energy in Boston which we're very excited about. We’re hopeful to get something done there,” adding that Boston becoming the U.S. Olympic committee’s choice to bid for the 2024 Summer Games could help the effort to secure a downtown stadium.
As for NYCFC, which is stuck sharing Yankee Stadium for the indefinite future, Garber said, “We know that they’re active and they’ve had ongoing discussions. It’s a big focus for them and we’re very hopeful that they’re going to be able to be in a position to have a stadium for that club.
“It’s just going to take some time. It’s a difficult market.”
Besides the explosion of soccer stadiums, expansion has been Garber’s greatest legacy and the league is set to add two more teams in 2017—in Atlanta and Los Angeles—with plans to add two more by the end of the decade. David Beckham’s Miami bid remains in play pending a stadium deal and the competition for the final slot—or slots if Miami is a no-go—for that round of expansion is growing.
Sacramento, Minneapolis, and San Antonio are the frontrunners, with Las Vegas a longshot. Garber indicated that St. Louis is also in play.
“I am going to be out in St. Louis in the next couple of weeks," Garber revealed. "St. Louis has got a lot of activity going on with a stadium they are trying to get done for the (NFL’s) Rams. There is a big soccer community there and we would love to see the soccer stadium downtown like they are thinking about with a football stadium.
"San Antonio has been very active. There is a lot of stuff going on. There is a lot of interest in expansion.”
Minneapolis actually has two different ownership groups vying to bring an expansion team there. One, which appears to be favored by a majority of soccer fans in the Twin Cities, is led by the owners of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and Major League Baseball’s Twins in partnership with the owners of the NASL’s Minnesota United. However, they don’t have a plan for a stadium secured, which is a major hurdle needed to clear, despite their deep pockets and ties to both the sporting and soccer communities.
The other is led by Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, who plans to have the team follow the Atlanta expansion model and play in a new NFL stadium.
"It’s very positive that we have multiple owners in an important market that want to come into Major League Soccer. We have got a lot of decisions we need to make. We are bullish on Minneapolis. We think it’s a good market, it’s an important market for us strategically from a geographic perspective,” Garber said. “We love the two ownership groups. We’ve been spending time with both of them. We have work to do with both groups. But I’m very bullish on the market.”
One black mark for Wilf, besides sharing a cavernous NFL stadium, is his ongoing legal issues. The Vikings owner and his brother were found liable by a New Jersey court of breaking state racketeering laws and keeping shady books to dupe his partners out of shares of a family real estate business’ revenue. As part of the case a judge ordered Wilf and his family to pay $84.5 million in fines and restitution.
Garber, however, claimed to be unfamiliar with these proceedings. “I don’t know anything about his legal issues,” he snapped.
Brooke Tunstall is an American Soccer Now contributing editor and ASN 100 panelist. You can follow him on Twitter.
