Here’s what MLS commissioner Don Garber had to say about Inter Miami’s first season
Despite the many hurdles Inter Miami faced during its inaugural season, MLS commissioner Don Garber remains bullish on the market and said “everything will be fine there.”
Garber, taking media questions after his annual State of the League address on Tuesday, said of Inter Miami:
“This is a team that launched their season after 10 years of anticipation without ever being able to play a home game until they returned in the summer. They did not get to play that game, it was days before that we canceled that game and postponed the season. They spent north of $100 million on a temporary facility. They were in very positive discussions about a downtown stadium. They were in the midst of what I think would have been an unbelievably optimistic and energized level of passion at all levels, and it was all shut down for them.
“The fact that they were able to get into the position they were, that they were able to have a reasonably competitive season and get into the playoffs, to be able to get some fans into their stadium, to be able to get guys like [Rodolfo] Pizarro on the field, to be able to have a very, very passionate and successful coach..to be able to do that during the pandemic as a new team has been remarkable.
“I’ve said to some journalists who I thought were hard on Inter Miami, `Boy, you’ve got to really look at it through what it is they actually went through, which perhaps is more challenging than perhaps any other club. I have great faith in the ownership group. I have great faith in their ability to get the excitement back. The fan base is very passionate, you saw that with the few number of games when they had fans. Everything will be fine there.”