Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer, said that Saudi Arabia’s big spending on foreign players won’t stop his league from making an international push now that Lionel Messi has joined.
Messi signed with Inter Miami on Saturday, finishing his move to the MLS. He had turned down a huge deal to move to the Saudi Professional League.
But the Saudi league has already taken big steps to bring in the kind of experienced players that MLS has in the past tried to get.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the first player to move to the Saudi league. He had been thought of as a possible MLS target for a long time. Karim Benzema, a striker for Real Madrid and France, and Roberto Firmino, a Brazilian, were among the other players to follow.
But Garber said that the new competition for big-name players doesn’t worry him.
“I’ve seen it happen with China, and I wasn’t worried about it any more than I am about what’s going on in Saudi Arabia. In fact, it’s the opposite,” Garber told a small group of reporters on Sunday before Messi’s reveal.
“I think that all of us in developing areas have a chance because we can spread the power and impact of professional football around the world.
“You do realize that it’s not only about Europe, right? It’s getting close. So that doesn’t bother me at all. “By the way, it’s just one more thing in this really complicated business we’re in. We’ll get through it, and I think we’ll be fine,” he said.
In recent years, MLS teams have focused on getting younger players from South America. However, they have often brought in stars near the end of their careers, especially since David Beckham joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007.
Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are two English players who have moved to the North American league. Andrea Pirlo and Giorgio Chiellini are two Italian players, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a Swedish player.
With Messi on board, MLS and its television partner Apple TV hope to make money by selling tickets to the league around the world.
Garber said that the league, which is already shown in Spanish and some games are shown in French, was thinking about adding more languages to the shows to make them more interesting.
“I think that Apple will have more and more languages. That’s what makes the system stand out. We are thinking about adding more languages as soon as next year,” he said.
“We put on a new show, and it’s amazing that we did it in three languages. I think there will be more languages in the future. I think we’ll have more chances to be very, very specific about who we’re talking to, whether that’s in Portuguese or another language. “Just hold on,” he told her.
Messi will be the biggest soccer star to play in the U.S. since Pele joined the New York Cosmos and caused young teams to spend a lot of money on players.
Choice of league
But Garber said that there was no chance of a boom and bust like the one that happened to the old North American Soccer League (NASL) and caused it to go out of business in just a few years.
“MLS has a chance to keep growing and becoming a more important player in soccer and sports around the world. “It is so far in the past to think that we are even close to what the NASL was,” he said.
“The league is important because it has 30 teams and is worth $15 billion. Think about that: All of our teams are worth $15 billion as a whole. It was $250 million when I got there.
“So I don’t think there’s any point in looking back. The question now is, what will the future be like?”
Garber said that Messi’s choice to join MLS showed how quickly the league was growing.
“You’ve heard us say that we want MLS to be a league that players, fans, partners, and, in the end, owners can choose.
“When the best player of all time chooses to play in Major League Soccer, I think that says a lot about where MLS is now and where it will go in the years to come.”Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer, said that Saudi Arabia’s big spending on foreign players won’t stop his league from making an international push now that Lionel Messi has joined.
Messi signed with Inter Miami on Saturday, finishing his move to the MLS. He had turned down a huge deal to move to the Saudi Professional League.
But the Saudi league has already taken big steps to bring in the kind of experienced players that MLS has in the past tried to get.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the first player to move to the Saudi league. He had been thought of as a possible MLS target for a long time. Karim Benzema, a striker for Real Madrid and France, and Roberto Firmino, a Brazilian, were among the other players to follow.
But Garber said that the new competition for big-name players doesn’t worry him.
“I’ve seen it happen with China, and I wasn’t worried about it any more than I am about what’s going on in Saudi Arabia. In fact, it’s the opposite,” Garber told a small group of reporters on Sunday before Messi’s reveal.
“I think that all of us in developing areas have a chance because we can spread the power and impact of professional football around the world.
“You do realize that it’s not only about Europe, right? It’s getting close. So that doesn’t bother me at all. “By the way, it’s just one more thing in this really complicated business we’re in. We’ll get through it, and I think we’ll be fine,” he said.
In recent years, MLS teams have focused on getting younger players from South America. However, they have often brought in stars near the end of their careers, especially since David Beckham joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007.
Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are two English players who have moved to the North American league. Andrea Pirlo and Giorgio Chiellini are two Italian players, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a Swedish player.
With Messi on board, MLS and its television partner Apple TV hope to make money by selling tickets to the league around the world.
Garber said that the league, which is already shown in Spanish and some games are shown in French, was thinking about adding more languages to the shows to make them more interesting.
“I think that Apple will have more and more languages. That’s what makes the system stand out. We are thinking about adding more languages as soon as next year,” he said.
“We put on a new show, and it’s amazing that we did it in three languages. I think there will be more languages in the future. I think we’ll have more chances to be very, very specific about who we’re talking to, whether that’s in Portuguese or another language. “Just hold on,” he told her.
Messi will be the biggest soccer star to play in the U.S. since Pele joined the New York Cosmos and caused young teams to spend a lot of money on players.
Choice of league
But Garber said that there was no chance of a boom and bust like the one that happened to the old North American Soccer League (NASL) and caused it to go out of business in just a few years.
“MLS has a chance to keep growing and becoming a more important player in soccer and sports around the world. “It is so far in the past to think that we are even close to what the NASL was,” he said.
“The league is important because it has 30 teams and is worth $15 billion. Think about that: All of our teams are worth $15 billion as a whole. It was $250 million when I got there.
“So I don’t think there’s any point in looking back. The question now is, what will the future be like?”
Garber said that Messi’s choice to join MLS showed how quickly the league was growing.
“You’ve heard us say that we want MLS to be a league that players, fans, partners, and, in the end, owners can choose.
“When the best player of all time chooses to play in Major League Soccer, I think that says a lot about where MLS is now and where it will go in the years to come.”