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Morning Ticker: Garber agrees to contract extension, Chinese billionaire bidding for Liverpool and more

Garber

By TRAVIS CLARK

MLS Commissioner Don Garber will remain at the helm of the league through at least 2014.

The Board of Governors approved a contract extension over the weekend, and Garber has agreed to stay on as commissioner of MLS. During his 11 year tenure, MLS has undergone significant changes and growth.

Garber, the league’s second commissioner, took the position back on August 4, 1999. At the time, MLS had only 12 teams, eventually shrinking down to 10 with the contraction of Miami and Tampa Bay in 2001. By the time his new deal runs out, MLS will have at least 19 teams.

Here are a few other stories for Monday:

Huang in negotiations to buy Liverpool

Chinese billionaire Kenny Huang is currently in negotiations to buy Liverpool FC, with a deal possible within days. The Guardian reports that Huang has offered to buy up the club’s £237 million debt from the Royal Bank of Scotland, a move that would see him able to force a takeover from current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The nature of the move would see the co-owners make no profit, having bought the club for £218.9 million back in 2007.

Manchester United’s Anderson survives car crash

Brazilian midfielder Anderson was involved in a horrific car crash in Portugal over the weekend. Reports say that an unconscious Anderson was pulled from the wreckage just moments before the car burst into flames after the accident. The 22-year-old has been out since injuring his cruciate ligament back in February, and emerged from the incident with only minor injuries.

Eriksson parts ways with Ivory Coast

Sven-Goran Eriksson ended his tenure as national team manager of the Ivory Coast, as the two sides were unable to agree upon financial conditions of a new four-year deal. Eriksson was open to the idea to stay on as manager of the Elephants, and he was the reported favorite to remain in charge, despite being unable to guide the Ivory Coast to the second round of the World Cup.

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What do you think about Garber’s extension? Will Liverpool finally find a buyer? Can Anderson resurrect his United career? Surprised to see Eriksson go?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. i sense pure jealousy in ur comment..pure and it not all that are owned, Arsenal are not, and made a profit of 35 Million and are currently the 5th richest team, for United blame Glazers who butt-4ucked them, same with liverpool, and to say they don`t have Background in football is travesty, of all the owners just the Glazers and Gillette don`t.

    Do you know Spurs are owned by Americans too, but they are not in debt, they even spend more than Arsenal.

    Don`t be a spike and give credit were its due, they have marketed themsleves

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  2. I don’t know much about Sven beyond his Mexico stint, but neither that (Femexfut is truly messed up as a federation) nor an emergency 2 month stint with CIV is really useful for evaluating his abilities as a manager.

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  3. Hey don’t piuck on the Rhinos – remember they’re endangered.

    Besides, they won the US Open Cup in the MLS Dark Ages (the 90s), so there!

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  4. More like vision impaired.

    1.FIFA has no rule in place preventing more than 20 teams. They strongly suggest it, but there is currently no rule in place preventing it.

    2. You can’t tell me a spectator would want to go to a TFC or Revs game in late November/early December? I don’t buy it.

    3. MLS attendence is up almost 10% this year…a World Cup year, in which games were played during it. Thats bad?

    4. They can’t beat them in August and September when they are in mid-season form either, so whats the freakin’ difference?

    5. Money talks and BS walks. When MLS teams have the ability to pay serious money for top talent, it won’t matter. The players will come.

    6. I strongly suspect you have no idea what you are talking about, so you might as well get over it.

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  5. how many EPL clubs are actually owned by Englishmen anymore? It must be crazy for longtime Liverpool, Manchester, Fulham, Chelsea, etc. fans to see their teams get tossed around by foreign businessmen most of which do not have a background in international soccer.

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  6. I think Garber has to look at expanding the infrastructure of the league. I.e. allowing more money for more players within a team (helping them compete in tournaments), bringing back the reserve league, and adding more support staff.

    We have the front end product. Let’s work on the back end.

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  7. ha, as a usmnt and united fan, that would be pretty tight, but it wouldn’t be the best move for bradley or united, as fletcher would easily get games ahead of bradley.

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  8. The Liverpool story is a non-starter. Liverpool would have to be in administration for Huang to bypass the board of directors and deal exclusively with the bank.

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  9. Is it just me, or does Don Garber look like a beaver in that picture? He could also moonlight as a hamster or guinea pig.

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  10. My guess is that FIFA will play the games to try to best fit everyone in Eupore and Americas. That would mean starting games at 1:00, 3:30 and 6:00 PM Atlantic Time. This would equate to 6:00, 8:30 and 11:00 PM on the Continent. One hour earlier in the UK. I may be off by one hour, but that’s my guess.

    Also, the weather in Rio over the past month has been highs in the low 70’s during the day. Night time lows in the high 60’s. Great soccer weather even in the Brazilian”winter”.

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  11. I fall into category 4) The Visionaries.

    1. With more than 20 markets who want and can support a top league team and FIFA rules preventing expansion beyond 1 top league of 20, pro/rel is how you get the healthiest “franchises” in the top league.

    2. Playing in the heat and humidity of the summer sucks works for the spectacle on the field than playing in the cold.

    3. Playing concurrently with the major global (world cup) and regional (gold cup) international competitions is not good for the sport.

    4. MLS teams in pre-season form can’t beat a mid-season form Mexican team away in the Champions League.

    5. MLS is hampered in the transfer window and will be unable to reach the level of “top tier league” until its season aligns with those leagues containing the best players.

    6. I strongly suspect MLS going to Fall/Spring will be a requirement from FIFA for us getting 2022 (just as starting the MLS was for us getting 1994); we might as well get it over with.

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  12. I agree with you as well….however, never say never. If it were to EVER happen I think timing would be everything and Andy is suggesting the best timing for this would be surrounding the next WC.

    Also keep in mind soccer is growing. It’s growing is by drawing actual soccer fans (the ones who fill Giants stadium and the like for international friendlies) to the league. This type of fan would not only embrace the change but the change could actually make the league look more credible to these types thereby strengthening by bringing more hard core fans into the fold. These fans would allow MLS to compete in late fall with other major sports.

    One can spin anything to one’s own viewpoint.

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  13. I am actually very impressed with Garber, but pushing for a second NY team when there is barely traction for one is incredibly stupid.

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  14. While the pace of development for MLS has been a little conservative at times, Garber clearly has a plan and has been executing it quite well. Remeber the predictions at the beginning that MLS would go bust like the NASL and then think about stories this weekend where David Moyes said that Everton will not be able to afford the transfer fee for Landon. Its time to give the man credit. It hasn’t been perfect but MLS is definitely on a path to international standing.

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  15. …but completely disagree with you on this point. Garber has a great business mind and is making MLS a successful business. Under his tenure MLS has gone from 12 teams and 1 stadium to 19 announced teams and 13 announced stadiums (15 if you count Seattle and San Jose which is soon to be announced). All this over the course of 11 years and through a recession.

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  16. I might find Garber stingy and sometimes selfish, but he is a marketing genius.

    Many people don’t know that the Don was the Director of Marketing for the NFL, as well as the Senior VP of NLF International.

    His long term build strategy known as “Garber League Building Plan” is perfect, and has been a massive success. Don Garber is perfect for MLS and future growth.

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  17. The people who want to transition to a Fall-Spring schedule fall into one of three categories:
    1) Eurosnobs who want to kill off U.S. soccer.
    2) Soccer agnostics who want to kill off U.S. soccer.
    3) The clueless.
    There is no logical reason for MLS to play in fall/winter/spring. It is a death sentence.

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  18. As a Liverpool fan, let me say that it is hard to believe Hicks/Gillett have owned the club for only three years.
    It seems so, so much longer.

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  19. Brazil is Atlantic time, which is only 1 hour off Eastern. Given the seasonal temps and the fact that Korea/Japan didn’t make huge European concessions, I don’t see FIFA insisting on games in the heat of the day just to avoid the Euros losing a few winks.

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  20. Garber has already mentioned relegation being something under consideration so that ship has already sailed, IMO.

    As far as other sports go, how many who attend MLS games also attend baseball, football, or basketball? There’s some cross-over, yes, but not nearly enough to kill the idea. MLS goes into November now so already has crossover with football and doesn’t appear to significantly impact either TV ratings or attendance.

    Most importantly:
    – no conflict with World Cup, Gold Cup, and Copa America
    – aligns with international transfer window
    – better schedule for competing in CONCACAF Champions League

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  21. Moving to a fall-spring schedule is suicide for the MLS. You can either compete against baseball for the bulk of the season or compete against everything else for the bulk of the season, not really hard to see why that would be a horrible decision.

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  22. A Chinese man named Kenny? Now I’ve seen everything.

    My relationship to Don Garber is similar to my relationship with Bob Bradley. It’s a volatile love/hate affair worthy of a movie. MLS is better off now than it was 10 years ago. He has done a great job. There are still things he needs to change like reviving the reserve league, changing to a single table format, etc.

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  23. Agreed. Ferguson will be furious about this. Past United players have been thrown out the door for less. And to think that Anderson was once considered the brightest young talent that they had.

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  24. I guess it came down to money but I wouldn’t blame Sven for CIV’s first round exit. They probably would’ve gotten out of any of the other groups, and not having Drogba for the Portugal match may have gotten them a win there instead of a draw.

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  25. allowing other people to succeed ain’t nothing. look at how those clowns actively ran the red bulls into the ground in 2009.

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  26. Will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, happen in a bajillion years. Chalk this right up there with promotion/relegation.

    No one in their right mind would want to compete with every other major sport, including baseball’s playoffs and world series, all at one time. It’s bad enough towards the end of the season when the NFL starts up.

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  27. So all that debt, heartache and hassle that Hicks and Gillette endured just to be forced out for no profit – that’s just hilarious.

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  28. I don’t give Garber too much credit. He’s a moron. I view him as more or less allowing other people to advance the league. Him not standing in the way does not deserve 4 more years of idiocy. Crap.

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  29. MLS needs to use the 2014 World Cup, with games during US prime time, to transition the MLS to a Fall-Spring schedule. Taking ~6 weeks off for a winter break will avoid both the worst of the winter weather and the NFL playoffs and College Bowls games.

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  30. anderson is surely going to be off the 25 man roster now. reports indicate he was drunk and he was the one driving. while rehabbing an injury. in portugal while other injured united players are at training. at 7 am after clubbing. happy for the kid that he survived, but his time at united is done.

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  31. Chinese billionaire wants to buy something he knows nothing about, Erikson out of another job.. Just the life and times of football.

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  32. There is doubt there has been growth and improvement. He has my vote of confidence and approval. Same with Gulati that with the national team has improved. These next 4-8 years will be crucial and most difficult thought in that both the league and national team either stay stagnant or really take the next step with to be in the level of the elite. It will be difficult task. As for Garber the only thing I would recommend is look into taking the Champions League more serious and putting or looking into make two divisions with one club getting relegated to make the tournament more exciting.

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