Don Garber lives in fantasy land where MLS model is a success

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber is no stranger to comments that outwardly and, perhaps incorrectly, defend the MLS model. Most recently, Garber was a speaker at Leaders Week 2024 in London where he touted that soccer would be in a better position if it followed the lead of Major League soccer.

“If you were to ask the people that are running some of the big European leagues, they’d say, ‘Boy, MLS has got it right,'” Garber said. Specifically, Garber was alluding to the fact that the closed system and single-entity league have garnered the interest of investors. For reference, eleven teams have joined MLS in the last decade. Many of those sides have built soccer-specific stadiums that pull in decent-sized audiences regularly.

Garber’s close-minded view of world soccer

Yet, this is a close-minded look at Major League Soccer. Garber praised the lack of promotion and relegation and how it benefits investors and owners in the league. They know their investment will always be competing at the ‘top level’ of American soccer, regardless of how well they perform.

However, Garber misses the point that soccer is created and owned by the fans, not for the folly and investment dollars of owners.

Garber is still wearing his NFL hat when he’s thinking about soccer. The former NFL executive, who admitted he hated soccer when he joined MLS, looks at the National Football League as a comparison to MLS. A closed league that had massive expansion at one point. Investors spending billions to acquire NFL teams.

There is one key difference between NFL and MLS, though. NFL has no competition, while MLS must go up against leagues like the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga, and tens of others worldwide.

Garber is off base to claim MLS is doing comparatively well

MLS is not a success because Garber propagates the closed system. It has done well so far because of the power of sports in the United States. Soccer continues to grow in popularity, and investors are entering the league for the untapped fans.

Additionally, Americans have looked to Europe as a means of entry into soccer. Leading up to and throughout 2024, more US billionaires than ever are buying shares or entire ownership stakes in clubs in Europe. In the Premier League, the Friedkin Group’s pending acquisition of Everton could make it the 11th club in the English top flight with at least some form of American ownership. Major Italian clubs like AC Milan, AS Roma, Fiorentina, and others have come under American ownership in the last five years. In France, Marseille and Olympique Lyon have a majority American ownership.

Garber said people running top European leagues would say MLS is doing well. It only begs the question as to why Garber is saying it while these leagues are not. On the contrary, there has been notable opposition to things like the European Super League. Yes, that competition goes against the domestic league systems in Europe. However, the argument against it comes from a sporting perspective.

To be frank, MLS is itself a Super League. In soccer, a Super League is defined as “a closed league without promotion and relegation, or a tier system where clubs are admitted based on revenue rather than titles.” That is undoubtedly MLS. While Garber is the face of the league, he answers to the owners in the league, many of whom are NFL owners themselves. Hence the reason why Garber continues to think of MLS as the NFL version of soccer.

MLS format changes have led to too many games

The MLS single entity model that Don Garber is promoting to European leagues is driven by money. That is why it’s not surprising to see Garber helping to promote more games for teams in MLS. An expanded MLS Cup Playoff format, the introduction of the Leagues Cup, and championing FIFA Club World Cup are at odds with what he said about schedule congestion:

“The world is shrinking, and with that sports are evolving,” said Garber. “I just want everybody to be thoughtful about it. Be strategic about it. Be mindful of the impact of any of those decisions on fans and on stakeholders.”

It seems as if Garber thinks MLS is the perfect embodiment of soccer, only he fails to realize that he is the only one who sees it in that way.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.