Don Garber (born October 9, 1957) has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federation board of directors. He has been nicknamed "The Don" or "The Soccer Don" by his colleagues and the media.[1]
Garber has spent his entire career in the sports industry, working in a variety of capacities in marketing, television and league administration. Before joining MLS, Garber was with the National Football League for 16 years.
Don Garber has been ranked by Sports Business Daily as one of the 50 most influential people in the U.S. sports business every year since 2005.[11]
| Year | Rank | Change | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 19 |  +3 | Oversaw lucrative new TV deals, record attendance, and expansion.[12] |
| 2013 | 22 | +6 | Oversaw expansion, with new teams paying league record expansion fees.[13] |
| 2012 | 28 | +2 | Oversaw two straight years of record attendance growth.[14] |
| 2011 | 30 | +4 | Oversaw nationwide expansion, attendance growth, and a TV deal with NBC Sports.[15][16] |
| 2010 | 34 |  –1 | Handled collective bargaining negotiations with the players union.[17] |
| 2009 | 33 | –1 | |
| 2008 | 32 | –5 | Attracted additional owners to MLS and grew the SUM agency.[18] |
| 2007 | 27 | +9 | Became more assertive as league commissioner instead of deferring to the team owners.[19] |
| 2006 | 36 | +9 | [20] |
| 2005 | 45 | | [21] |
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MLS Commissioner[edit]
Garber was appointed as the league's new commissioner on August 4, 1999[3] becoming Major League Soccer's second commissioner, succeeding Doug Logan. One of his first moves as commissioner was to bring the league more in line with the international standard, eliminating the shootout and letting the referee keep the time on the field.[citation needed] Overtime and a fourth keeper sub were the only surviving non-standard rules, and both would go after the 2003 season.
After the 2001 season, two teams, the Miami Fusion and the Tampa Bay Mutiny were contracted, which helped lead to the financial stabilization of the league.
Personal[edit]
Garber is married, has two adult children and lives in Montclair, New Jersey. He has received numerous industry honors,[22] and in 2011 was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the top sports commissioners.[23]
Designated Player Rule[edit]
Another new competition initiative MLS undertook at the conclusion of the 2006 season was the creation of the Designated Player Rule, or "Beckham Rule". It is nicknamed after David Beckham as his signing with the Los Angeles Galaxy was the first use of the rule by a member club in January 2007. Garber has stated that fan research was one of the driving forces behind the decision to institute the Designated Player Rule. Garber and the league's owners also acknowledged that MLS needed a few more "marquee" players to boost interest and the long-term strength of the league in a quicker fashion.[6]
elevision deals[edit]
Commercially Garber has also made huge strides over a long period of time.[citation needed] One of the most important of those commercial landmarks for the league was the first-ever TV rights deals that Major League Soccer agreed to with ABC/ESPN, Univision, Fox Soccer Channel, and HDNet. Between them the league took in approximately $20 million each year and was no longer be responsible for producing the games. NBC replaced Fox Soccer starting with the 2012 season.[7] The new NBC agreement brings in a reported $10 million each year to the league. Garber has indicated that increasing TV ratings remains one of MLS' greatest challenges.[8]
§Sponsors[edit]
Furthering the league's financial well-being is the landmark decision to be the first professional sports league in North America to allow sponsor's names on the front of jerseys [2]. Real Salt Lake signed the first agreement with XanGo, a multi-level marketing company, for an estimated $4-5 million over 4 years [3]. With a floor of $500,000 per year for a shirt sponsorship, of which $200,000 goes to the League as a flat fee, this is thought to be a way to increase owner's incentives to invest in their team(s).[9]
Now, many teams generate multi-million dollar sponsorships for their jersey-front sponsorships. Most jersey-front sponsorships generally run between $1–$4 million per year, although the Los Angeles Galaxy’s Herbalife agreement is reportedly more than $5 million per year.[10]
§Ownership[edit]
Recently[when?] ownership has been dramatically diversified. In 2001, there were just three owners in the 10 team league: Philip Anschutz's Anschutz Entertainment Group (6 teams), Lamar Hunt's Hunt Sports (3 teams), and Robert Kraft (owner of New England Revolution). Since then the league has diversified to 18.5 owners (AEG owns Los Angeles Galaxy and half of Houston Dynamo) of 19 teams under Garber's guidance.
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