Major League Soccer's ground-breaking ticket sales school, a 45-day training program dubbed the MLS National Sales Center, held its first graduation, and 10 trainees moved on to jobs with seven clubs.

The program, which costs in the low six-figures, will continue with two more sessions in 2010 and six or seven in 2011. Students are paid a stipend and attend classes in Blaine, Minn. They also work on sales campaigns.

“This is really a play around league expansion,” Bryant Pfeiffer, MLS vice president of club operations. “There’s a need for sales people in this league.”

MLS clubs generally employ 15 to 20 people in ticket sales, but it isn't easy to fill the spots with experienced sales people. Entry-level positions pay in the mid-$20,000s.