MLS Commissioner Don Garber joined CNBC on Tuesday, just five days before the 2015 MLS Cup, to discuss the growth of the league and its future, including the quest by David Beckham and his partners to establish an expansion team in Miami.
Garber indicated that discussions will likely be taking place in the near future regarding the group's stadium plans.
"It's really real-time. They're trying to solidify their site," Garber told CNBC. "We'll be meeeting with their ownership group if not in the next couple of days, certainly in the next few weeks to try to see if we can really put a stake in the ground and hopefully finalize having David Beckham and his partners be owners in our league, which we're excited about.
"We need to finalize their stadium site and ensure it's a proper location," Garber continued. "Right now they don't have that plan finalized. They will come to us and ask us possibly to approve a location as early as this weekened at our MLS board meeting in Columbus. If that should happen over the next few days, we could at least take one step closer toward finalizing our deal with him and hopefully having a team in Miami."
The MLS commissioner started the interview by highlighting the league’s expansion from 10 teams to 20 and the increase in club values and attendance.
“There’s been enormous growth, but our best days are still ahead,” Garber said. “Demographics are in our favor, there’s so many things that are really driving the growth of soccer in North America.”
He also noted that Sunday’s title match between the Portland Timbers and Columbus Crew SC (4 pm ET; ESPN, UniMás, TSN, RDS, MLS Live), two relatively smaller market teams, exemplifies the parity in the league.
“We want every fan in every market to believe that they have a chance to get into the final, regardless of market size, regardless of what their capacity is to spend on players,” he said.
