MLS, facing $1B loss, to resume season with Orlando summer tournament. Here are details
Major League Soccer, which could lose as much as $1 billion because of the COVID-19 crisis, averted a lockout and will return with a summer made-for-TV tournament at Orlando’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, league commissioner Don Garber confirmed during a teleconference Wednesday.
MLS positioned itself to be the first major U.S. sports league to resume after the MLS Players Association ratified a revised collective bargaining agreement that cleared the way for the Orlando plan.
Garber singled out the leadership of Inter Miami goalkeeper and captain Luis Robles, a member of the MLSPA executive board, as instrumental in getting the deal done.
Players agreed to a 5 percent pay cut for the 2020 season after the league had suggested pay cuts of 20 percent and 10 percent in recent weeks. Players will accept a reduced share of media rights fees in 2023. Both sides also agreed to a one-year extension of the CBA to 2025, and to add a force majeure clause that would allow either party to back out in the event of a catastrophic event, such as a pandemic.
Garber said details of the Orlando tournament are still being worked out, but one plan had all 26 teams convening in Orlando on June 24 for a few weeks of training with fan-free games beginning in early July. The teams and MLS officials would be sequestered at Disney’s Coronado Springs resort, undergo regular testing for the virus and follow strict health safety protocols.
Teams would play three group games and a 16-team knockout round at the Wide World of Sports complex, which has 17 fields and is the same place the NBA is planning its return. The entire Orlando event would not exceed 35 days, at which point the league hopes teams could transition to playing at home stadiums, likely without fans, for the remainder of the season.
Teams that can administer coronavirus testing at home facilities and remain in compliance with local health guidelines could begin full-squad training in-market and report to Orlando a week later, according to MLS president Mark Abbott.
Garber said there is still great uncertainty about when and how teams would be able to play in home markets, so the Orlando tournament is an effort to deliver games to fans, media partners and sponsors while recouping some of the lost revenue.
He said there will be more cameras than usual for the game broadcasts and new technologies will be used to enhance the at-home viewing experience.
“Unlike other leagues whose fan bases are deeply mature and have been around for generations, our absence created a void in their lives and their love for our players and our clubs, clearly, our absence from the sports scene — it was crucial for us to get back,” Garber said.
Negotiations with the MLSPA were “challenging” and included some heated conversations, Garber conceded, including the threat of a lockout. But in the end, he praised the union for its professionalism.
MLS suspended play on March 12, just two games into the league’s 25th anniversary season. Inter Miami, which lost its first two games on the road, was set to make is highly anticipated home debut against the Los Angeles Galaxy the following weekend at its newly built Fort Lauderdale stadium.
“The league had amazing and unprecedented momentum going into our 25th season,” Garber said. “We had incredible excitement about the launch of two new teams [Inter Miami and Nashville SC], we were ready to embark on a yearlong celebration of Major League Soccer. And then the world changed ... nobody could have predicted the pandemic, and here we are, trying to manage through the impact it had on our league, personally and on the economic viability and long-term sustainability of the league.”
The day began with a statement from the MLSPA that it had ratified a new collective bargaining agreement and finalized a plan to resume the 2020 season “and provides players with certainty for the months ahead. It allows our members to move forward and continue to compete in the game they love.”
The players union also addressed “a future that looks much different than the one we envisioned a few months ago” and vowed to be leaders in the fight for social justice.
“There are problems we face collectively that are both more urgent, and more important, than competing on the field,” said the statement. “We are grieving, we are fed up, we expect change, and we expect action. This change won’t come on the field, but it will come partly through the force and determination of all who seek justice and equality. We hope our return to the field will allow fans a momentary release and a semblance of normalcy.”
Garber began his call by addressing the racial unrest and nationwide protests sparked by the death in police custody of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man who pleaded that he could not breathe while a white police officer knelt on his neck.
Garber said he was proud of MLS players for speaking their mind about the issue on social media and vowed that the league will take action to help cure the injustices. He said a Zoom call on the topic was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
“We are managing through the impact of a national cry for addressing the longstanding and deep injustice and inequality that has been affecting the black community for a lifetime, frankly,” the commissioner said. “We as a league are just horrified by the appalling and senseless and unspeakable tragedy in the death of George Floyd. It’s a painful reminder everything going on the last eight days of how far we as a country need to go to address some of these deep, systemic issues.
“It’s not enough to produce ads and have programs that talk about these issues. As a league, we need to go further and we’re committed to doing that. Stay tuned for some of the things we can do to create meaningful change.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 3:15 PM.