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Garber interview: Brief Mtl-Van mention


Andrew W

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"Expansion continues to go strong. When you look at San Diego, Portland, Vancouver, Montreal, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Miami and a second team in New York, just to name a few, there are more serious prospects for expansion than we have available teams. Our ownership group is as strong as it's ever been and soccer-specific stadium development is going extremely well. Sponsorship is at an all-time high and we went past the 3 million mark in attendance for first time in league history. It's an exciting time for MLS."

Interesting that, although one of the fan's questions mentioned it, Garber himself made no mention of Seattle when talking about the best expansion prospects.

Has MLS ever considered a merger with the USL? This would definitely increase the player pool in the long run and hopefully, incorporate the relegation system that every American soccer purist craves.

-- Pedro Geliga, Cocoa, Fla.

"Promotion and relegation is what makes soccer so exciting around the world. But international ownership structures are very different than ours is here in the U.S. I don't necessarily see promotion and relegation any more than I see the Oneonta Tigers getting promoted into Major League Baseball or the New York Yankees getting relegated. That being said, the USL has a handful of owners who I think are doing an incredible job. I'd like to see some relationship that makes sense. But as we're a very immature business -- only now in our 12th year -- it's hard to be all things for all people. There are only so many things you can do and do right. The USL is on that list, but it's probably not the highest thing right now."

I also liked that this question was asked. If splitting the teams into conferences is seen by Garber as a worthy(IMHO a fairly weak) way of generating more interest in the league standings, it is really only a matter of time before a) the USL as it stands rights now implodes thereby creating the incentive for a one-time enlargement of MLS, and then B) Garber realizes that there is an incredible amount of potential excitement and very little risk (as long as they still run the show as they do now) in creating promotion and relegation.

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Nice to see Montreal get mentioned this time, because they were left out of the last list that I saw Garber give. Paul Beirne mentioned on the fan590 a week ago that MLS is looking to get to 20 teams, so it would be nice to see three of those being Canadian. He also mentioned that what MLS are finding is that while there is a lot of interest from various cities, few are willing to actually put their money where there mouth is (Portland could be shaping up to be one such city if those two morons that treated Garber like Garbage on their radio show are anything to go by). Which is why I think Montreal now has an excellent chance, and Vancouver would as well if that darn stadium could get built.

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quote:If splitting the teams into conferences is seen by Garber as a worthy(IMHO a fairly weak) way of generating more interest in the league standings

Are you referring to Garbers answer to the first question? Garber completely missed what was being asked and I don't think he was saying that conferences generate more interest in league standings only that playoffs do. The person asking the question was just asking why they bother with conferences considering they took the top whatever teams this season regardless of conferences. Garbers answer is stupid consdering a single table does not get rid of playoffs. All he has to do is look at the USL's single table and playoff system. The person asking the question made a great point, if you are going to just take the top 8 teams (or whatever it is in MLS) why not go single table and eliminate the conferences? Garber misunderstood the simple question.

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I think we should stick with the conference format until there are at least 16 teams in the league. That way we can play a balanced 30 game schedule. Next year there will only be 14 teams so we would lose 2 games if we played a balanced schedule. If it is single table it's only fair to play a balanced schedule.

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  • 3 weeks later...

More today from Garber...

Nine cities, including Philadelphia and St. Louis, express interest in MLS expansion teams

November 16, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With San Jose and Seattle already in, Philadelphia and St. Louis could be the next cities to join Major League Soccer.

MLS commissioner Don Garber on Friday listed nine cities as candidates for expansion, with the Philadelphia and the St. Louis at the top of the list.

"Our focus today is more than likely on those two," Garber said in his state of the league address at the National Press Club.

With the decision earlier this season that San Jose will begin play next year and Tuesday's announcement that Seattle will start in 2009, MLS has grown to 15 teams. Garber said the goal is to add a "16th by the end of the year."

He also said the league is seeking to have 18 teams by 2010-2011.

Besides Philadelphia -- which had two teams in the old North American Soccer League -- and St. Louis, which has been a traditional base of support for the sport, Garber noted interest form Falcons owner Arthur Blank in Atlanta and from Mets owner Fred Wilpon for a second team in the New York area. The cities of Las Vegas, Miami, Montreal, Portland, and Vancouver, British Columbia are also possibilities, he said.

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Interesting that, although one of the fan's questions mentioned it, Garber himself made no mention of Seattle when talking about the best expansion prospects.

Well technically, Seattle is no longer an expansion prospect.

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

Was that the confirmed case when I originally posted that on Oct. 26th?

I don't remember, actually.

I didn't even look at the date of your post, as I thought I was responding to some more recent. My mistake.

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quote:Originally posted by ag futbol

Anyone else who listened to the interview he also said they won't be reviewing the Canadian content rule until their is at least another Canadian team in the league. So if you're Mo Johnston, you better start doing your homework on domestic players.

That or pushing for your F.O. to make a case for Montreal to join the league. :D

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All i can say is that Montreal and Vancouver better get on it. Its up to Saputo to get the wheel rolling and its up to city council in Vancouver to get the process sped up. To me its simple for Montreal, find a way to increase capacity at Stade Saputo, and they practically have a team. But taking into consideration that the league will cap the amount of teams, time to get on the ball or be happy with USL-1.

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i've been following the developments of all the potential cities, and Montreal is the furthest along of all of them.

Montreal has a stadium ready for next season. Expansion to 18000 could be done after the 2008 season.

No other expansion site can claim having a stadium for 2009.

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Here is my translation of the piece that appeared on the Radio Canada Website:

____________________________

After Months of procrastination, the MLS is finally knocking on Montreal's door.

MLS commissioner, Don Garber, announced on Friday that he had begun preliminary discussions with Impact President, Joey Saputo. Richard Legendre, Impact vice president, affirmed in September that the ball was in the MLS's court. MLS has now responded.

MLS is the largest soccer league in North America. During his state of the union, Garber, its president, stated that: “Montreal is a good market with a nice demography" and added, “we have commenced more serious discussions with the Saputo family".

Garber did however add that, for the moment, Saputo stadium (with its 13000 seats) was too small. However, following phase two of the project, the facility will hold 18,000 seats, a sufficient number for MLS.

MLS will announce by January 31st, 2008 who will be its sixteenth team, the last of its 2009 expansion. Seattle has already been confirmed for 2009, while Philadelphia and St. Louis are in the race for the remaining spot.

The battle for 2010

Montreal would logically follow in 2010 or 2011 when the league goes to 18 teams. According to various media sources, Portland and Vancouver are also under consideration. Based on present conditions, two of these three will be chosen.

Garber did pull the carpet from under Vancouver's ( a heavy favorite a few months ago) feet. According to the commissioner, he will not deal with a city that doesn't have an adequately sized facility while other municipalities meet this criterion.

The impact of Toronto.

For its part, the Portland torch is being carried by one the owners of the Timbers of the USL who is also a former VP in the NBA. His plans is to make a soccer facility out of a modified PGE park (19 566 seats).

The bar has been set high with Toronto, but Saputo remains passionate.

The Toronto model has been highly hailed by Garber and the Ontario Club's weight weighs heavily on the expansion scale. Toronto FC might be Montreal's biggest ally

Toronto FC is looking to create a rivalry and it would benefit from having the move to MLS

In short, Montreal has never been this well positioned. Joey Saputo must however begin quickly phase two of the stadium project.

MLS is offering Montreal a chance. Now its up to Saputo to take

take it.

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