Dec. 22,2008 SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE Unlike other sports leagues, MLS hasn't made any league office cutbacks
Don Garber: "We don't have the luxury to take our eyes off the ball in terms of efficiency. We have always managed our business efficiently." Keith Furman / First Row Photos
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
Sports certainly has gotten its share of hits during the global economic crisis.
In October, the NBA said it would cut its staff by nine percent.
Earlier this month, the NFL was forced to slice its work force by 10 percent.
And just last week, Major League Baseball said it would undergo a hiring and salary freeze and take 20 percent of its employees vacation time in 2009, according to CNBC.
Major League Soccer? So far, nothing -- which is good news.
Sometimes less can be more.
Yet, MLS commissioner Don Garber is preparing for worse, or even the worst.
As a sport isn't in the same orbit as the others, MLS brings in and spends much fewer dollars than the other team sport and has a lot less to lose.
"I believe, like others, it will be a difficult time for us all," Garber said in a recent interview. "Our business is much smaller. We have much less risk. We have no debt. Our salaries are lower. Our staffs are smaller than the other leagues.
"I'm sure we'll button down and be more focused. Hopefully, we'll emerge from this as a stronger league. This will certainly take some time."
The MLS office, whose headquarters are in Manhattan, has been spared any cutbacks -- at least through the end of the year. The NFL recently got the biggest headlines as it announced it would cut 10 percent of its jobs.
"We have not," Garber said. "We have under 100 [people in the league office]. The NFL has 1,500."
Garber then laughed.
"We've always had to manage our business as if we were dealing with difficult times because soccer is an emerging sport in this country," he said.
"We don't have the luxury to take our eyes off the ball in terms of efficiency. We have always managed our business efficiently.
"I hope we can get through this without having to make some of the staffing decisions that some of the other leagues have had to make."
While the league would not release any financial figures, it is widely believed in American soccer circles that MLS is at its healthiest overall state in years if not ever. Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the league's marketing arm, brings in millions a year, whether it is promoting the Mexican National Team or Mexican clubs playing in the U.S., other foreign clubs on tour or marketing the league in particular or the sport in general. Eight of the 15 teams have soccer-specific stadiums they call home, which has turned some team's profits from red to black ink, or very close.
At his annual commissioner press conference at MLS Cup in Los Angeles last month, Garber acknowledged there would be hard times ahead and that some clubs had been forced to make cutbacks already.
"These are clearly, very trying times for every citizen and every business both here and around the world, the sports industry is not immune from the economic challenges that the world is going through. We, like others, have to manage our businesses more carefully and make sure that we're lean and mean to make good decisions."
At the present time, the league has not lost any of its major sponsors, although Garber did say in November that the corporate community was "getting hammered" in this area.
In a recent e-mail survey to all 14 teams, excluding the expansion Seattle Sounders FC, no team spokesman would acknowledge on the record that his or her team has laid off or fired personnel. The Red Bulls would not comment, claiming it does not talk about its team finances publicly. Ten teams responded to the questions.
At least one team has made cuts, according to one club spokesman, but it was more stadium-related.
On the flip side, at least two teams have not been affected by the economy. At least not for now. Those clubs are the Houston Dynamo and Real Salt Lake.
"Houston's economy has not been hit as hard as other parts of the country," Dynamo CEO Chris Canetti said via an e-mail. "The Dynamo has not felt any serious effects of the economy up to this point. Our season ticket and sponsorship sales are on target. Some business has been lost with companies citing economic reasons, but so far it has been limited and we believe it is recoverable."
Real Salt Lake, thanks to it's new soccer-specific stadium that opened up in October, Rio Tinto Stadium, is expanding, not contracting.
"We have actually added staff, which was necessary because of our new building," RSL president Bill Manning said.
