Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber was in ºüÀêÊÓƵ over the weekend, to see how Year 2 of the league's newest franchise was going and meet with ownership and staff.Â
Garber has just celebrated his 25th anniversary as MLS commissioner, and the league — and the sport in America — have both seen substantial growth in that time, including placing an expansion team in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
About an hour before kickoff of City SC's game with Minnesota on Saturday, he and I pulled up a couple of folding chairs in a tunnel just off the field at CityPark and talked about a variety of topics for about 10 minutes, with others that time precluded getting to.Â
Here's a transcript of that conversation. His answers are virtually untouched. My questions are edited to be more concise and coherent, as I often don't speak that way.
Timmermann: Have you been at CityPark since opening day 2023?
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Garber: I was here for a lot of time getting it all put together, and then the opening game, and then here for the Gold Cup match (in 2023). And I was scheduled to come here earlier in the year, and then that got moved to now.
It is a great time of the year to be here too. Games matter a bit more and there is a lot of stuff going on.
I had breakfast with (new U.S. national team coach Mauricio) Pochettino yesterday. It was interesting. And there's a lot going on in a positive way.
Timmermann: Twenty-five years on the job with MLS, did you think it would lead to where you are, not just in American soccer but global soccer?
Garber: No, I don't think I could have sat 25 years ago and thought that we’d be in a stadium and in a complex that is probably among the best in the world, with an owner that is so passionate about how a team could drive opportunity for a city. So it wasn't just about owning a sports team, it was about a team that could actually drive value for a community, and in the early days of MLS, that was unimaginable.
(City SC) is a brand that resonates. I walked around all day today, and people are wearing the jersey and passionate about their club. They have a great staff that really believes in this career opportunity for themselves. I met for the first time with guest services staff today. I think of how many team visits I've had and how many stadiums I've been a part of, and today, I met with the people that are dealing with fans every game. They have smiles on their face and are excited about being part of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ City experience.
So I'm not yet taking a step back to look at what was, got a busy two years to look at what can be, but it's been a journey.
Timmermann: You probably look at Year 2 for a club differently than most people. What do you see in Year 2 in ºüÀêÊÓƵ?Â
Garber: This club is teaching a master class from start to finish on how to build, launch, manage and operate a club at the highest level, and how everyone in the league recognized that, but nobody really understood what drove that level of excellence.
I spent some time with Andy Taylor today, and you realize that that's just the way the Taylor family operates their core business. They just took some of those principles about putting the customer first, having quality be indisputable, showing good leadership with staff, making big financial commitments and expecting them to pay off. I would say it's the Andy Taylor way.
I don't think I quite realized what that could mean for Major League Soccer, and I realize that now.
Timmermann: That shows the importance of finding good ownership?
Garber: Yeah, one of the things that I am probably proudest of, and I think MLS has this reputation, is we have among the best ownership group of any league in the world, and that's been a key driver of what's made MLS what it is today: a big belief in the sport, made big commitments and big bets, and we have a partnership approach off the field and competitive spirit on the field.
And every now and again, you have an owner that kind of in his own run-silent-run-deep way, joins that group and doesn't have to shout from the mountaintop. They just delivered.
And I think it's just really awesome. I love it. It makes me super proud. We waited a long time for this team, there were a lot of different iterations of what it could have been. And I will say as I take a step back, we have the right formula here, the right owner, the right stadium in the right location, and this ought to be good for a long time.
Timmermann: The U.S. Open Cup is a big deal in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Anything new?Â
Garber: You probably don't know this: I got heckled when I was walking past the supporter section.
The most difficult aspect of being in the soccer business globally is managing the calendar. Fans shouldn't have to understand that because that's not their job. It's our job to make the right decisions that sometimes are the tough decisions to ensure that we're managing that calendar, managing our player health and safety and building the value of our league on so many different levels. And globally, at some point, some things have to change in order to fit square pegs in round holes. ...
I've been on the U.S. Soccer board for a long time, and I understand the legacy value of the U.S. Open Cup, and I want to be sure that we can do what we can to continue to build it and get it right. But that path isn't linear. It might have to be a bit circular until we can get to a point that's going to make sense for every stakeholder, not just MLS, our players, our fans, the other leagues and all the other objectives we have to satisfy.
We are committed to the U.S. Open Cup. We will participate in it, and we are working with U.S. Soccer on the details of that. It's going to get finalized soon. And know that the league is going to make the right decision with all the input we've been taking in, including from our fans, from our technical folks, from our business folks and from U.S. Soccer.
Timmermann: Fans have been boycotting Leagues Cup because of it.Â
Garber: Listen, fans have every right to speak, and we should be listening to what our fans have to say. But there are a wide variety of factors that we have to consider, and we've got to continue to work closely with U.S. Soccer, to have an outcome that makes sense for everyone, including for our fans.
Timmermann: Doesn't Leagues Cup add to the congestion?
Garber: I don't think it's about U.S. Open Cup vs. Leagues Cup. Somehow it's been painted that way. I don't believe in that.
The situation really is all aspects of our schedule. It's the fact that we have to play 34 games. We have to play it in a weather and geographic and travel dynamic that no other league in the world has to contend with. We have FIFA breaks, and we have the CONCACAF Champions Cup. We have player call-ups that impact our schedule.
We have to ensure that we're building proper competition that over time we think could be valuable for our teams, including for our fans, and we have to find the right way to participate in the U.S. Open Cup.
Timmermann: What's next for the league? How do you build off Messi?
Garber: Next year, we'll have our 30th team in San Diego. That's got a lot of energy and a lot of momentum and will have us pause for a bit after that in terms of adding any new teams in the league.
We have the Club World Cup coming in this summer (2025) and the World Cup coming in the next summer (2026), which will impact our schedule. It will impact the way we're thinking about how to manage a schedule dynamic in the next two summers.
We've got to continue to build on our partnership and relationship with Apple.
We have to work very closely with our clubs to give them the support and tools to be able to grow their fan base, and we’ve got to find ways that we're growing our revenues so that we can continue to support all the things that our teams and our players and our fans expect.
We have a new stadium in New York City coming in ’27 and a new stadium in Miami coming in the next couple years. I mean, there is nothing but opportunity and momentum over the next couple years.
Timmermann: Speaking of crowded schedules, any thought to a Central Division, so City SC could play more Midwestern teams on a regular basis instead of making seven trips to the West Coast?
We have to think about what a new format could look right now that we have an equal number of teams. I can't comment about what that's going to look like, but we have to be sure we look at every aspect of what a different competitive format might look like.