Nobody has put more money into MLS than AEG and its owner, Phil Anschutz, and AEG chief executive Tim Leiweke calledthe threat of a player strike “ridiculous.”
“Here’s our issue, and I’m speaking on behalf of AEG,” Leiweke said. “We have spent to the tune of $300 million on soccer. We have spent moneyon facilities. We at one point owned six of the 10 teams to keep the league alive. I don’t even know how to react when I hear the players now saying that we have treated them poorly and they’re goingto strike. The fact is, the Galaxy isn’t going to make money this year. There are only a couple of [MLS] teams that will make money this year.”
Lieweke says MLS remains a work inprogress. “So when I hear them talk about striking and shutting the league down, I’ve got to tell you, they’re going to lose us when they talk like that. We do this out of passion. If this werea business, we would have quit this 10 years ago.” Leiweke, who was largely responsible for signing David Beckham, added that he believes there has been a”disconnect” between labor and management and hoped a new deal could be ironed out.