Don Garber has been the commissioner of MLS since 1999, a tenure among U.S. pro sport league bosses second only to the NHL’s Gary Bettman. So, thinking about Garber’s succession is a natural conversation.
Speaking on the latest episode of Sportico Sports Business Presented by Endava, airing Wednesday night on the YES Network and other outlets, Garber discussed the ongoing search for the next MLS commissioner. He highlighted the challenge of planning too far in advance, given the natural movement of executives across the industry.
“I had a guy who I thought would be a great commissioner candidate, who decided to move on in a different direction,” Garber said of former MLS exec Mark Abbott. Though he did not name Abbott directly, Garber identified him as an executive who went on to a position at Georgetown University, which Abbott did after his MLS departure. “So you never can plan. We had a succession plan [and] it changed.”
Garber also discusses the rapidly approaching World Cup, hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico this summer, and the commissioner says the league is as ready as it will be. The U.S. bid to host the 2022 World Cup, but Garber maintains that the country and the league were not ready then. That has changed since.
