Live #17: Don Garber Given Yet Another US Soccer Position! MLS Keeps Expanding Its Control Over You

Don Garber is stepping down as MLS commissioner, but his influence over American soccer isn’t going anywhere.

With Garber now taking on a new role as chair of U.S. Soccer’s Soccer Forward Foundation, we examine what the move means within the larger structure of the American game. For Gary, this isn’t about one appointment or one executive. It’s about MLS continuing to accumulate influence within an ecosystem that already concentrates enormous power at the top.

That structure also helps explain why so few people in American soccer media seriously challenge it. We get into the incentives journalists face when access to MLS, its franchises, players, and U.S. Soccer is essential to doing their jobs, and what happens when one company has so much influence over the professional game.

Most importantly, this isn’t some distant issue that only matters to people working in professional soccer. What happens at the top works its way downstream. The incentives created by a closed professional ecosystem ultimately shape the opportunities, pathways, and environment experienced by players, coaches, clubs, and parents throughout American soccer.

Later, we revisit the growing hype around 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan. He’s talented. He’s performing well. But what does success in MLS actually tell us about where a young player stands internationally? We discuss Mauricio Pochettino’s warning about overhyping young players, Brad Friedel’s comments on Sullivan, and why American soccer needs to develop a much better sense of perspective when evaluating its emerging talent.

We close with audience questions on USL and promotion and relegation, player pathways, UPSL vs. high school soccer, and what individuals can actually do to help change the American soccer ecosystem.

00:00 Intro
02:24 Don Garber Background
03:34 Don Garber Isn’t Going Anywhere — He’s Getting More Power
05:05 American Soccer Journalists Are Completely Compromised
09:40 One Company Runs the Whole Show
11:04 If We Kissed the Ring, We Would Have 10x the Audience
13:06 Why Did Don Garber Take This Role?
18:14 What Are The Values Of The Monopoly?
22:41 The Timing Was Orchestrated — and Nobody Leaked a Word
31:05 Why Gary Continues To Fight
33:50 Do MLS Players Understand The System They Play In?
35:06 Audience Question: Can You Expose The People In Charge?
39:25 Audience Question: How Will MLS Respond To USL Implementing Pro/Rel?
42:05 Audience Comment: “What’s The Point?”
50:03 Cavan Sullivan Hype
52:51 Brad Friedel Comments On Cavan Sullivan
01:01:09 Parting Remarks

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