Building MLS on schedule

(by Brad Rock desnews.com 4-11-06)

It was billed as a round-table interview session with Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber, and indeed it was. Right down to the round table.

If the league follows through on all its promises that readily, it ought to be a smash hit.

There he sat, Monday afternoon at The Depot restaurant, looking relaxed and optimistic.

It is, after all, the world's No. 1 sport.

All he has to do now is convince 300 million Americans — minus a few million legal and/or illegal soccer-educated immigrants — of the same.

"People just know more about soccer (than previously)," he said.

Garber, of course, has his reasons for optimism. He was holding forth at the home of a 1-year-old soccer franchise that was second in the league in attendance last year. Plans are advancing for a soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, which is music to his ears.

"People know who I am in Salt Lake City," he was saying, sounding slightly incredulous. "A lot of that is because it's a relatively small town. But it has a team that is very well branded. It's run and operated like a major league team, and this is a major league market."

If people recognize the commissioner, they must be soccer fans.

He admits that few people on the streets of New York know him. Not everyone can be Donald Trump. In Salt Lake, though, it's a different story.

Today Salt Lake, tomorrow the world.

On second thought, soccer already owns the world.

What it really needs now is a respectable piece of America.

As Real Salt Lake moves into its second season, things have gone better than either Garber or RSL owner Dave Checketts might have been expected — at least on the business side. The team opens its home schedule Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. But RSL's soccer-specific stadium is scheduled to be up and running in two years. Similar stadiums are set for completion in Chicago this June, in Toronto and Colorado next year and New York in 2008.

That, says Garber, is reason to be bullish.

"Clearly, no different than any other pro sports team in the country, soccer team owners need to control their venues," said Garber.

"That enables teams to play their games, obviously, but most importantly it allows them to capture the revenue that you can't capture when you're a tenant."

The eventual plan is for all teams to have their own place to call home.

Figuring out exactly where the American version of soccer fits is an ongoing project. Some indications are that optimists such as Checketts and Garber could be right — eventually Americans will catch on.

If they'll watch bobsled in the Olympics, or even "Pros vs. Joes," why not soccer?

Garber says the Los Angeles Galaxy — with its own stadium — is turning a profit. New England, he adds, is nearing that point.

"We are operating on the assumption that we'll be profitable in every market in which we have a stadium," he said.

Garber has been quoted saying season ticket sales rose by 25 percent this off-season, the largest jump in league history. Television contracts with major networks are being negotiated.

Average attendance is around 15,000, which is the unofficial figure most teams say they need for profitability.

At the same time, the league is in its 11th year. With only one or two teams turning a profit so far, how long must they wait? In that light, using taxpayer dollars for stadium projects is risky. Even if RSL thrives, it's possible the league could go under.

Still, says Garber, Americans are becoming "increasingly sophisticated" in terms of soccer knowledge, and success is right around the corner. Are there obstacles remaining? Of course. Is professional soccer in America out of the woods? Not even close.

"It's not easy to be optimistic in the soccer business," admitted Garber, "but looking at the success in Salt Lake, that was optimism that delivered — actually overdelivered on our expectations. So you've got to believe in what soccer can be in this country."

You might say it's his gooooooooal!