2023 MLS ALL-STAR GAME: MLS ALL-STARS VS ARSENAL

July 18, 2023

Don Garber

Audi Field

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to today's 2023 MLS All-Star Game press conference presented by Target.

We'll kick it off with some brief comments from the Commissioner.

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: Thank you very much. This is, I think, All-Star press conference -- these prepared remarks, all my speaking points, this will be easy.

I'll just give a couple of brief comments, and then we'll start with some questions.

Let me start by thanking D.C. United, Danita Johnson, Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan. When we granted this All-Star Game to D.C., we had a press conference with Mayor Bowser, who has been a big supporter of our league and this club and was instrumental in allowing us to go forward with the Audi Field project.

And for those of who you have been around for a while, RFK was our home for many, many years, but we really needed a stadium of our own, we needed a downtown stadium. Audi Field has been able to achieve that. It is a fantastic facility, and it would not have happened without Danita, without Jason, without Steve and without Mayor Bowser.

When we make commitments to build new stadiums, we always deliver an All-Star Game. And as you know, there have been other All-Star Games in D.C., but we sat down with ownership and Danita and said this has to be special. The league has such momentum. There's a lot of energy behind the sport. We are at a time, really, of great opportunity. So let's be sure that the All-Star Game can take advantage of that.

Over the last couple of days, it's been nothing short of remarkable.

Yesterday, I'm sure all of you know, we had soccer on the White House lawn hosted by the first lady. And for those of you who stuck around, President Biden came out and hung out with our kids and hung out with our All-Stars and really showed how far our league has come.

I don't think five years ago we would have been hosted at the White House with our players, and particularly giving us the opportunity to promote all of the focus and energy behind what we're doing with youth soccer, and that MLS GO program is something we are really excited about and proud of, increasing access, particularly in underserved communities, for people to just -- an MLS team identified, MLS GO jersey, and I think it's going to be the beginning of even broader activities with that program.

Today we had training on the Mall. And when you say, hey, let's go to Washington, D.C., well, you've got to go to the White House and you have to do something on the Mall. And we were able to deliver that today. Seeing the guys out there training and playing soccer volleyball with the Capitol on one end and the Washington Monument on another is really particular, and again, just one more example of how far soccer in our country has come, and we think a lot of that growth has been driven by the momentum, energy and investment behind Major League Soccer.

It's been a great season. And for those of who you have been with me on this journey for many years, we seem to say that every year. And at some point it's going to normalize, and it's not going to be about growth and about sort of we are achieving the unimaginable and defying what's possible because we'll be just another Major League that's doing what it does in creating thrills and agony on the field.

This year was real spectacular. It was the launch of our new global partnership with Apple. We could not be more excited about partnering with the largest, most innovative company in the world. It's year one of a ten-year deal. But we've hit it by storm. The games are produced at a very high quality. And those of you who have been able to watch an MLS Season Pass, it's accessible, the quality is great. The new game-in-game feature, which was just launched, is really spectacular.

Every team has got their own room, their own season, which they can feed an endless amount of content. So think about the idea that every club has their own program to do whatever it is think they will entertain, inspire and provide value to their fans. Could not be more excited about that.

We renewed our partnership with adidas, and I bring this up as our State of the League, because commercial business at MLS, we've always punched above our weight. But to have a partnership with a company that's been with us since day one and is part of the global conversation in soccer and football really says a lot about Major League Soccer.

We are likely their largest partner, regardless of whatever federation, confederation or any other club. And obviously with an exciting new player joining our league, hopefully that energy and excitement and experience will go even to a higher level.

We had been thinking about St. Louis for a decade, but not when the league was launched in 1996. St. Louis is one of those great soccer cities in America. It was way north of ten years when I made my first trip there and met with the mayor and met with the governor and said, hey, how can we have a fully expanded MLS league and not be in one of the birthplaces of the sport.

Years of development, getting the Taylor family, who are so committed to our league, having a female ownership group, just adding to what's unique and special about St. Louis City. And then record, record performance on the field and doing really, really well off the field.

If you haven't been there, the downtown stadium, the training ground and the offices and retail in downtown urban core is nothing short of spectacular.

I made a social media post about our big El Tráfico event in the Rose Bowl. It's not just a big game. There are a lot of big games that happen in our league. This was a rescheduled match. This was a match that was supposed to kick off our season. So imagine logistics of redoing that again many months later during July 4th weekend. But it was our largest attended event that will take us next to get us to where we are going and what the opportunity is ahead.

Obviously we'll have questions about the signing of Lionel Messi, so I'll say my comments to the questions that you're going to ask; but a transformational moment for our league for sure. The event in Miami was spectacular. The energy in and around that signing was even defying our expectations. To have the best player in the history of the game to be choosing Major League Soccer is something we could not be more excited about.

And the fact that the first game will be Friday in our new inaugural Leagues Cup, our partnership with Liga MX. There's been so much talk about the rivalry between our national teams and then the concept of interleague play and how would all that come to pass. This partnership, which is a joint venture, we are equal partners in this World Cup-style tournament that will have our teams playing their teams, lots of energy behind it, lots of prize money, and we could not be more excited about it.

Lastly, the soccer world is turning its attention even more than ever before to North America. Copa America, as you know, will be here next summer, the FIFA Club World Cup in 2025, and the World Cup in 2026.

We have always believed that North America is driving a lot of the energy and a lot of the potential value of soccer on a global basis, and we believe that MLS is one of the drivers of all of that energy. We have said for many years we want to be the engine behind creating a soccer nation in America, and now it's creating a soccer continent.

I will tell you as somebody that's been involved for decades, the opportunity and excitement and energy about what's going to happen over the next number of years is going to have the whole world say, well, they finally got it: great leagues, men's leagues and women's leagues, unbelievable competition, rising youth game, rising opportunity in and around the commercial business and the media business. And with all of that, our best days are still ahead of us.

So no shortage of excitement, so let's take some questions.

Q. Touched on this in your introduction, the excitement at the White House yesterday and the National Mall this morning, how special is it for these All-Stars and for this league to have this whole week here in our nation's capital in what they say is the most powerful city in the world?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: You know, this is the most powerful and arguably one of the most important cities in the entire world, but it's also a great sports town. Those of you that live here know that. Whatever league or club it is, people here really love the game and love sports overall.

A great shout-out goes out to the mayor and goes out to D.C. United, goes out to our staff, many of whom are here today, that have been working for over a year on pulling off two unprecedented events, the White House event and the Mall event.

By the way, for those of you at the anthem last night, seeing a great concert and a wonderful water light show on the waterfront, when you're here, you kind of get a little bounce in your step, seeing people around supporting big events. We could not be more excited, and a big thank you goes out to everybody who has been a part of it.

Q. If I may, I'm going to skip All-Star and I wanted to ask you about Leagues Cup. It starts this Friday. What do you expect, and most importantly, what do you want to see, especially from the Mexican side?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: Well, you know, there's so much energy and activity in the summers here in the United States. It's been going on for many years. And our league, as many of you know, starts as early as February and goes all the way to December.

And we were trying to find a way that you can create something special within our season. The NBA just launched that within their season. And this idea that had been developing for many, many years to take a break in the summer -- as you know, our schedule is quite different from the rest of the world -- and do something that could capture the attention of what continues to be a very knowledgeable and passionate fan base, which is this combination of the traditional sports fan here in the United States and Canada and those really passionate soccer and football followers.

So our expectations are high. It's new. And like everything, you have to take risks and have ambition when you are trying to continue to move forward. So we are expecting -- by the way, our ticket sales are above what we had planned it to be. We have a great partnership with Univision and Apple about broadcasting those games, and I think that tension that exists when we play even friendlies against Liga MX, I think you're going to see now that there's real pride and money on the line; the CONCACAF Champions League has risen to a really competitive level, our USA/México matches are a site to behold.

Q. There's been a lot of noise and chaos in the transfer market this summer. But undoubtedly, two of the most exciting signings so far have been Messi to the League and Declan Rice to the Arsenal. When did negotiations or talks start with Arsenal to be the team for the All-Star Game this season, and were the owners involved in that? And a sneaky second, only because I was at the Rose Bowl game, would you endorse a July 4 game at the Rose Bowl every year? Because the fans absolutely loved it.

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: We were talking to Arsenal way before Declan was available in the transfer window. Just an added benefit to have one of the most exciting young players and the highest transfer you could get for an English player, just adds to the excitement and drama around our All-Star component.

As you all know, we played against México for many years, and prior to that we had large clubs. And we'll have to see how it plays out when we go to Columbus next year.

Owners really are not involved in those discussions unless that owner happens to own the team that we're talking to. In this case the Kroenkes own both the Colorado Rapids and they own Arsenal, so the first call was made to Josh Kroenke saying, hey, we think this is a good idea. We know you're probably thinking about coming to the United States. Let's figure out a way that we have something that can be special and that the game is going to be at the nation's capital.

We have not even begun to think about what our opponent or even what our concept will be for next year, but our All-Star Game has always delivered, and I'm sure it will be really great.

You know, I can't say that it should be something -- the best response is the league continues to defy even our own expectations of what it can deliver. I think the Messi signing is one of that; years of figuring out San Diego -- I neglected to mention that -- as an expansion market with record expansion fee, and opening up -- now Miami opening up the western hemisphere and south of the border and now San Diego opening up south of the border to México, we have so many really, really exciting things going on. San Jose Earthquakes play some games in large stadiums.

We'll have to see. MLS was launched in big football stadiums. We went through 20 years of building smaller soccer-specific stadiums. I still think that is our model. What's happening in St. Louis is, I think, indicative of that.

But if a team wants to play a match in a large stadium and they think they can sell 80,000 seats, the league is going to say, Just tell us where, and we'll show up with the Apple cameras.

Q. For many of us, we were dreaming since 1996 about this league and sometimes all the dreams come true. Now Messi is here, but I don't want to talk about Messi because he's a reality. Personal question: What is your next dream? Because this is not the end, to have one of the biggest players in the history of soccer, it's the beginning. And I'm sure you have already the next dream to make a bigger and better MLS for the future.

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: You know, it's a good question.

Q. Thank you.

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: It's a good question. I think we're probably past the dream point. We sit around and plan with our owners and we plan internally about what is next. Can you attract the best players and can you be in all the cities you want to be in; can you get the right media dynamic with a global platform, particularly when you want to be more of a global league.

Now it's really about getting everything right, ensuring that we can continue to grow the quality of play in the League, continue to create the pyramid where our homegrown players are performing at a really high level, at an academy level in MLS NEXT, having a rounded-out MLS NEXT Pro. We have not talked about that. The investment in that is more than the original investment in the League. The idea that we can have players going from being youth players up to a second team and then signing first-time contracts.

We have two more stadium projects that are in the works. New York City, we have been working on that one since 1996. That is approved and will shortly start breaking ground. And then as you know in your hometown in Miami, hopefully a groundbreaking there as well.

That means in almost every market, maybe with the exception of one, and I have confidence maybe they will get something done there, we have solved our infrastructure questions. Other leagues don't have to worry about that; it's how do I make my existing stadium better. For MLS, how do we have the proper infrastructure to make the league the way we want to be.

I'd say the last part of it, which is just more strategic, we do think that there is a rocket fuel that's driving this sport and our league and the road to 2026. But for me, it's about 2027 and beyond. It's about what will this league look like ten years from now.

And I know I probably won't -- will not be standing here ten years from now and hopefully many of you will still be in the audience when the MLS All-Star press conference takes place, but that's where the real dream exists; that there's no real end to what soccer in North America can be, and all of us are just working really hard to sort of have no barriers to that. I believe, and I've said this since I became commissioner, we want to become one of the top soccer leagues in the world.

Now we have proved to the world we can at least compete with the top players in the world, but how do we capture the hearts and minds of fans around the world? How do we capture the hearts and minds of every player, so a Declan Rice might say, maybe I won't go to Arsenal, maybe I'll go to St. Louis, right.

So those are the kinds of things that we think about in the years to come.

Q. One of your picks for the game is the Montréaler, Mathieu Choinière. Why did you choose him?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: I saw him in the lobby. We want to round out the experience for our players. There's the typical logical players that fans and technical people know are going to be in the All-Star Game but want to give that experience to somebody special, and I think he came over to me and thanked me, you know, just about an hour ago and I thought that was really cool.

I love this idea of Commissioner Picks, because it just gives you the idea to make a statement with some of the players, and we made a statement with that selection.

Q. Now that Messi has been officially signed and officially unveiled, both on and off the field what metrics are you looking at that would make it a success? What are the goals and deliverables on your end?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: It's a good question. I will say, the fact, the real success factor is not thinking about how does it translate in ticket sales. How does it translate in -- working hard and have worked hard for so long to create.

We want him to have a good experience. I was at the event a couple of nights ago, and my great moment was not the pictures and unveiling. It was watching Lionel by himself standing there looking out at the crowd and nodding his head, and then walking out and kicking the ball around with his kids because we want him to feel that he's part of the MLS family.

And because of his global appeal, if he believes in Major League Soccer, if he is part of the great journey that we are on to the path to being one of the top leagues in the world; and when he's done, no different than many of the other great players who have played in our league to look back and say, I think Major League Soccer is not only on the rise but has arrived.

I'll give you an example of that. I'll put that aside. I attend a lot of big sporting events. And when I see Cherian Raj, or I see Yuri Zhirkov or I see David Villa; I was at the Champions League final, and I saw Frank Lampard and I saw Steven Gerrard, and they just say, "We can't believe where MLS is."

It's just continuing to defy everyone's expectations, and at some point, five years from now or ten years from now, there will be some player who is thinking about Major League Soccer because saw the success and experience of Lionel Messi with Inter Miami.

Q. You talk about the --

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: It's like a scene out of "Ted Lasso."

Q. I'll avoid --

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: I put you on edge a little bit. Now you'll question me harder.

Q. You talk about the league. Does the league face a challenge like many other leagues are facing a challenge from the investment in Saudi Arabia and what they are trying to do with their league at the moment?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: You know, I said this in, I think, at a little media roundtable the other day. I have been connected to the Saudi League through the World League Forum that I am a co-chair of for many, many years. And I believe that emerging leagues in emerging markets, having energy and having investment and creating noise is a positive. Because for many years, we were that challenging league, right, and we're in a different spot than we were in the past.

So I don't look at that as a threat in any way to Major League Soccer. I actually think it's positive for the sport. You know, I wish them well and hope that our clubs can play one of their clubs in the Club World Cup here in 2025 and see that the sport is spreading its influence.

Obviously we have great connections with the European leagues, but I live here in this part of the world. I am a supporter of CONCACAF. I have seen the energy and investment that's gone into this part of the world. I want to see the rest of the world being a big part of the soccer family, and whether that's in Saudi Arabia or whether it's in Asia, whether it's in the emerging professional -- or professionalism of some of the leagues in South America.

Q. The MLS started in 1996 after a World Cup in the USA. The next World Cup in this country with Canada and México will be 30 years after the first game. How do you see the U.S. national men's team?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: Two things, the bifurcated answer, the MLS was borne out of the 1990 World Cup. The World Cup can do so many things to spread the beauty of the game here in this country and obviously in Canada and México.

And I look forward to seeing how we could work closely with FIFA and with CONCACAF with U.S. Soccer and the Canadian Soccer Association and the FMF to ensure that we are together building the game so it is what we want it to be in 2027 and beyond.

Early in MLS's history, we felt we were so tied strategically to the success of the men's national team, and I don't believe we are today. We had players in from almost 40 different countries playing in Qatar. You're going to start seeing more and more players from around the world competing in our league and playing for the national teams, like Almada, who I just saw when I was talking over here.

I walked over to him and said, "It's not just a great No. 10. It's about you, too. You're one of those guys that really, really speaks to the future of soccer and the future of Major League Soccer."

So I think there will always be MLS players that play for our national team, and if not, the vast majority of them will come through Major League Soccer which has its value as well.

So I will continue to be as supportive as we can but we are not dependent on our players competing for the success of the World Cup in 2026 or the league in 2027 or beyond.

Q. I assume you heard Ronaldo's statement yesterday regarding MLS, and I assume you disagree?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: Well, I didn't hear it until I was walking in. I've been busy. And now I know what he said and I said, listen, we have always been that league that has been the challenger league, and I believe in our role and I believe we will continue to be an important part of the professional soccer world. I'm very proud of what we've achieved and I think our players are very proud of what we achieved and proud are being part of the MLS story. Not my first rodeo.

Q. You've said in the past couple weeks and past couple months that you don't really see promotion and relegation in the near or immediate future of the MLS. However, going back a little bit to the talks of expansion and the strategy and stuff like that, what are the barriers, the specific barriers, that prevent promotion and relegation from being incorporated in this general ten-year vision?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: The primary barrier is the fact that we have teams that will invest a billion dollars in building their club and building their facility, and that investment requires being part of a system that allows them to be able to plan for what that means for them on and off the field. That doesn't exist in any other country in the world because soccer or football has been around for a lifetime and they can move up and down the pyramid.

So I don't see it happening any time soon. But I've also learned that never is a long time. We'll have 30 teams, maybe at some point we'll have more than 30 teams. Got this interesting competition going on with México. Who knows how all that plays itself out. The Minor Leagues are developing well in our country. MLS NEXT Pro is developing well. We have independent teams that are coming in there.

So we should always be thinking about what do we need to ensure we are capturing the opportunity, and we have proven the -- (audio break) -- but there's a long way before we have a system, in my opinion, my opinion does matter in this, that can support the economics of promotion and relegation in Major League Soccer.

Q. Obviously the backdrop to Messi and Busquets arrival is Miami's standing with the league. Obviously they are struggling a bit this year, and those players are going to have a real fight to make the postseason. How worried are you, I guess, about the prospect of Messi not being involved in the postseason?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: I lived through what was a five-year experience with David Beckham, and for those of you who were around, the beginning was not easy for anyone. He was injured, the team struggled and then it worked out pretty well, two championships.

This signing is a summer window signing, so the team obviously has to figure it all out and they are doing it in real time. They have their first game on Friday and games coming up obviously right after that. So I don't believe anyone is looking at it in the short term. They are looking at it over two and a half years that Lionel Messi will be in the League.

I will say that that is not going to be something that is going to determine in my opinion whether this is successful or not. Teams have to do what they need to do to win. Leagues are agnostic as to that. People might not agree with that but we are. We just want our teams to be really, really valuable locally to their fans, and be connected in the community. Winning is part of that but winning is not the only strategy that clubs need to have in order to be successful.

Q. There's a lot of talk about Messi and other players that are coming to the MLS, but as well, in the last year, there's been a lot of MLS players going to the major European leagues. So what are your expectations on that for the near future and on the developing MLS as well as a regular season for keep growing young players?

COMMISSIONER DON GARBER: You know, you can't be one of the top leagues in the world without having an active transfer market without being a player in the global transfer system, and until a few years ago, we were not a player. We were primarily a buyer and not a seller. I said at this press conference a couple years ago, I said we had to be more of a selling league, and then everybody thought we were going to be selling all of our players.

That's not what I said. I said you have to be a participant in the global football market, and we are now. Our player transfers over the last couple years have been just defying our expectations, and I think it speaks to the value of our developing programs and our homegrown player programs.

When we see a player that goes over, Matt Turner playing for Arsenal and being the star of our national team and having such great success, just as an example because of the Arsenal connection, being developed and playing in New England, that's a really positive story.

I think more of those stories are going to be better for everybody.