Promotion and relegation in MLS? Don Garber on the subject

Promotion and relegation in MLS has been a hotly debated topic in American soccer circles for years. Fans and pundits engage on social media almost daily in a seemingly endless back-and-forth. But what does the big boss of MLS, Commissioner Don Garber, have to say about this?

A former NFL executive, Garber has served as MLS commissioner since August 1999. Early in his tenure, the league shrank from 12 to 10 teams, but in the mid-2000s an upward trend began and continues today. ‘today. Football-specific stadiums have been built across the country and the league will soon have 30 teams. But what about the game itself under his tenure?

Shortly after he took over in 1999, the league abandoned hockey-style shootouts and countdowns. In 2004, by completely getting rid of overtime in regular season games, Garber said in a Press release “This decision reflects our desire to continue our alignment with the global game…”

As the league stabilized and grew in the second half of the first decade of the 2000s, one topic, a main element of the “global game”, kept cropping up: “When, if ever, will MLS adopt- promotion and relegation? For his part, while sometimes appreciative of the concept on a diplomatic level, Garber has been fairly consistent over the years.

“I think that would be an exciting thing for us to be able to achieve. But…”

The league leader’s initial comments seemed relatively optimistic about the possible inclusion of promotion and relegationbut there was always the caveat of being far away, even almost impossible:

NEWS: MLS' Don Garber says league hopes to "eventually" include promotion/relegation; and is exploring Euro ties: http://bit.ly/MQppF
— FOX Sports Hub (@FOXSportsHub) 
 

“Unfortunately, our country does not have the infrastructure to support promotion/relegation at present. We will continue to monitor this, but it will probably be at least 10 years before promotion/relegation can be considered…”

Following his 2009 remarks (above), here’s what Garber said during a press briefing at the State Department’s Foreign Press Center in 2011:

“(It’s not going to happen) anytime soon. I think that would be an exciting thing for us to be able to achieve. But the structure of the American leagues is such that it’s almost impossible to think about it anytime soon. I think the rest of the soccer community finds it strange that all of a sudden the Vancouver Whitecaps appear in our league. We sell them an expansion team, and all of a sudden they’re playing instead of progressing.

“Our challenge is that this sport at the professional level is very immature in North America. There is no strong second division. There are no teams to promote, let alone what could happen to relegate them. Where would they go? What league would they play in? This second division does not have a television contract. There is no sponsorship. It’s not about developing players. It doesn’t have the hundreds and hundreds of years of history that exists in the rest of the world. But it would be exciting if we could achieve it.

Garber’s comment about the lack of a “strong second division” failed to mention that at that time Seattle, Portland, Vancouver and Montreal, all well-supported second division teams, had been removed from the USL/NASL for progress. Since then, five other teams (Orlando, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Nashville and St. Louis) have moved directly or indirectly from the USL or NASL to MLS. Another, Sacramento, was announced, but that deal has since fallen through.

A third of the MLS standings are made up of “promoted” teams. Teams that prove themselves (off the field anyway) before joining are certainly attractive to MLS. But more on that later.

Sadly, as more and more of these franchises were added, for ever higher expansion fees, remarks like “maybe someday” stopped being uttered.

Don Garber on promotion and relegation in MLS

As mentioned above, Garber was more dismissive about the chances of pro/rel happening. In 2012, see tweet below, this question was no longer on the agenda.

RT @LeanderESPN: MLS commish Don Garber to me on promotion/relegation being on the table: "Definitely not."
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) 
 

This was followed in 2014 by Garber, cited in the Washington Postnoticing that the pro/rel was not happening on his watch:

“It’s a long time, so I don’t know what will happen when they kick me out of here.” It won’t happen anytime soon.

Speaking with the Canadian newspaper Globe and mail in 2015, Garber doubled his stake.

“I believe we can develop and run a much bigger league than it is today without having to consider promotion and relegation. I will definitely tell you in the short term, and that short term is a long time away, there will be no promotion or relegation. This makes absolutely no sense. There is no developed secondary division. We have union agreements… agreements with national television… with investors who have invested billions of dollars. This won’t be something that can be managed anytime soon. »

Later in 2015, Garber made a memorable gaffe at BlazerCon:

“If you invest billions and billions of dollars, which we’re currently at about $3.5 billion invested (in MLS) over twenty years, to build something in Kansas City and they have a tough season, think that they could play Chattanooga in a 4,000 person stadium on a lousy field with no fans makes no sense.

Chattanooga FC, an amateur team in the NPSL, had just recently played its final match of the season in front of more than 18,000 fans – more than many MLS teams averaged at the time. In fact, this figure is higher than the 2022 average of the current 12 MLS teams. These 12 include massive markets such as New York (both teams), Chicago, Washington DC and Miami.

The future landscape

As we head toward 2026 and the U.S.-co-hosted World Cup, MLS will likely have 30 teams (or more). He now controls his own two-year-old child third professional division which she says will also have independent sides (there is still only one such entrant).

Promotion and relegation were developed in Europe in the first place because there were more teams than one could perfectly create a single calendar/league for. With MLS almost certainly continuing to cash expansion checks in both of its leagues, could we see some sort of internal pro/rel within MLS? Well, don’t get your hopes up.

Asked MLS commissioner Don Garber if, in the event the league eventually gets beyond 30 teams, a two-tiered promotion/relegation system might be feasible. His answer? “No.”
— Doug McIntyre (@ByDougMcIntyre) 
 

It’s entirely possible that the league will use MLS NEXT Pro as a parking spot for potential MLS ownership groups. Using their own league, instead of the USL, as a testing ground to really evaluate the markets and owners before giving them a top spot in the top division makes perfect sense. But, unless FIFA and/or US Soccer decide to intervene, don’t count on anyone actually being able to advance to the US D1 anytime soon.

Photos: Imago