This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sandy • I was presented with a 10-minute window with MLS Commissioner Don Garber Wednesday afternoon. Garber, in year 17 as Commissioner of MLS, was in town to speak at Real Salt Lake's annual partner's luncheon at Rio Tinto Stadium. Below is our transcript that covered the dramatic Collective Bargaining Negotiations last week, the new deal, RSL's affect on the league, debunking the small market myths, free agency, owner Dell Loy Hansen and a possible future MLS All-Star Game.
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How big of a sigh of a relief was last week?
Garber: "You know, anytime you go into CBA negotiations — particularly as leagues mature — you have to work that much harder to reach an agreement that works for everybody in players and ownership. This one came right down to the wire, so you're always concerned and in this case, the players were very focused on perhaps going on strike if they didn't receive a deal that was acceptable to them. But I will tell you all the way to the end, I know we were very focused on doing what we needed to do to get a deal done and ensuring that our system remained in tact and that we would have a deal that we could manage and I know the players felt the same way."
What do markets like this do in terms of being able to expand the scope of MLS?
Garber: "This is a great success story. It really is a showcase for what our league can do for a community, what it can do to build a sport in a region and what it can do to show that you can go into a market where soccer was not steeped in deep history and not just be successful, but be one of our most successful. So this is a good showcase for us. We're very proud of all the things that Dell Loy Hansen's done and all the things this team has achieved."
Is RSL the kind of franchise you'd like to model future small-market franchises after?
Garber: "We are much less focused on market size as I think people in small markets think we are. It's just not something we think about that much. We want successful teams with engaged fans, with owners that believe and are committed that have brands that resonate in the community with engaged sponsors who are deeply connected to their MLS club, and very importantly, having fans who are passionate supporters and that's what we have here."
NFL free agency started this week and major news is breaking every few hours. Do you think MLS could get that point one day in the offseason with free agency now part of the picture?
Garber: "I know there's been a lot of press in the offseason in our local markets and we had perhaps our most busiest and loudest offseason ever with so many positives things that gave us momentum going into the season. Player signings, a new stadium, announcements and energy behind expansion, so I don't believe the only way you drive preseason interest is through player activity. There are lots of new ways to do it and through our new [CBA] deal, there will be a lot more noise about player movement than certainly any other time in our 20 years."
Where would you like to see this league be in five years?
Garber: "Well certainly have a few more teams and be more popular to have the passion of our fans continue to grow and resonate, not just here, but throughout the world. An increased contribution to both the U.S. and Canadian national teams and hopefully a league that just matters so much more than it does today."
What is your relationship with Dell Loy like?
Garber: "Dell Loy is a very passionate and committed owner and has earned the respect of me and the league management as well as ownership for what he's been able to achieve here. That, in itself, is something that he should be proud of and people here in this market should pay attention to. There are no shortage of very influential owners in other leagues that get fined over things they have said that ultimately they regret, but that doesn't change our view that he's done a tremendous job in this market."
Do you think Rio Tinto Stadium could be a place that hosts another MLS All-Star Game?
Garber: "Absolutely, I think it should continue to host lots of big international events, MLS events and hopefully an MLS Cup. It's a process, it's a bidding process, we've got to go through a lot of other markets that haven't had games yet, that haven't had stadiums before we come back. That being said, there are other things that we would love to do here that connect our league and connect our sport beyond just MLS games with the stadium and this market."
I know you often mention MLS being a 'league of choice,' so do you imagine that being the final frontier for the league?
Garber: "We have not even come close to knowing what our final frontier is yet. We're just going into young adulthood. We've got a lot of years ahead of us to manage through growth and manage through the increased opportunity that comes with a country and a region that is much more soccer focused than they ever were before and as many alternatives to satisfy their soccer interest and we've got to be there providing them with value every day, value on television, value in our community programs, and most importantly, value on the field."
-Chris Kamrani
Twitter: @chriskamrani