“I think as the women’s game gets more and more popular, it just makes sense for teams that have the infrastructure to add NWSL teams. I think you’ll see, very soon, half of our clubs launching andmanaging women’s teams. When and how and what the specifics are, I don’t know.” — MLS commissioner Don Garber, […]
don garber
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
MLS ups the ante on expansion
By Paul Kennedy (@pkedit) Major League Soccer has come a long way in the last decade, let alone the last two. Commissioner Don Garber likes to tell the story about when the league was just starting to begin expansion discussions in 2005 and meeting with the owners of MLSE, the Canadian sports andentertainment company. “They […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS expansion, immediate and long term, taking shape
MLS’s plans to slot in the launch dates of its next four expansion teams are beginning to take shape. MLS commissioner Don Garber said at an event to promote the Sacramento expansion bid onThursday that the goal — a word he emphasized several times — is to launch Atlanta United and Minnesota in 2017 and […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Don Garber: Arena comments 'absurd and irresponsible'
A day after LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena criticized the “hysteria” surrounding Nigel de Jong‘s foul that injured Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe, MLS commissionerDon Garber termed Arena’s remarks “absurd and irresponsible.” In an interview with LosAngeles reporters, Arena described the coverage of the incident in Sunday’s game “hysteria” and “the fault of social media. […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: Don Garber
“It’s going to take time before we develop players as good as the Germans. Belgium has a cultural dynamic that we don’t yet have. How do you have [a] player think about nothing elsebut the team when they’re 16? That culture doesn’t yet exist and it will take some time before that happens.” — MLS […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
St. Louis raises MLS expansion game
St. Louis, one of the oldest hotbeds for soccer in the United States, has until recently rarely been considered an MLS expansion target. But with the exit of the NFL Rams to Los Angeles, a seriouseffort is underway to explore what it will take to bring MLS to St. Louis. The latest development was the […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: Don Garber
“We are very excited about the possibilities in St. Louis. We believe it’s MLS-ready. We’ve got a lot of work to do as it relates to determining a stadium solution, and figuring out who ultimately canbe the owner of the team. But, overall, we’re very focused on St. Louis as a potential expansion market.” — […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
More TAM means more pressure across the board for MLS clubs
By Ridge Mahoney (@ridgemax) Just a few days after the 2015 MLS season ended with Portland winning its first league title, the landscape for2016 already looks dramatically different. Despite the fact that less than half of the teams used Targeted Allocation Money (TAM) to bolster their rosters after the mechanism was officiallyannounced in July, MLS […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: Don Garber
“Sitting where we sit, we want great teams with passionate fans playing in our Cup regardless of the size of the market. I actually believe it’s good when the Kansas City Royals are in theWorld Series, or Columbus and Portland are in the MLS Cup. It plays into the theory that every fan can believe […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Report: Another MLS spending boost could be on horizon
MLS commissioner Don Garber confirmed in aninterview with Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl that there was “momentum” to spend more targeted allocation money (initially set at $500,000 over five years per team) and MLS’s board ofgovernors would consider the issue on Saturday at its meeting in Columbus, Ohio. “There’s no doubt that the TAM program was […]