Twenty years ago today, I awoke as if from a dream, along with a small but incredible group of soccer loving professionals. We had just launched Major League Soccer (MLS) with the first-ever match, played in San Jose, CA. Mere weeks before, we were a rag-tag bunch of unknowns, yet to have finalized rosters, contracts, uniforms or facilities. Players like a young Cobi Jones and American heartthrob Andrew Shue were wandering the vast polo fields of La Jolla, training long days, trying to form teams and units that could entertain a country left hungry for the beautiful game after the ’94 World Cup. MLS was a promise fulfilled to FIFA for a first-ever US based World Cup, and a dream realized for thousands of players and fans that loved the game. This was an era where content was limited to TV and radio and soccer was still more of a punchline for Sportscenter anchors than a multi-million dollar business. The NASL had folded, and Rocky was still the star of the most popular US soccer movie (see: Victory).
But, in Century City, CA a group of exceptionally big brains and shrewd investors had miraculously orchestrated the launch of what has become a globally credible professional sports league and sustainable business. Yes, there were many bumps in the road, and losses likely reaching the hundreds of millions of dollars. But, in a testament that hard work and determination can help even the craziest dreams come true, MLS thrives twenty years later, twenty teams strong. Arguably, MLS could be considered one of the most successful start-ups from an era that seemed to birth a hot new company every minute: Pets.com and Webvan are distant memories, MLS is alive and well.
To be sure, the early days were marked with massive swings of success and failure: filling the Meadowlands one New Jersey day, and counting fans on one hand the next Kansas City night. ‘Waiting for the walk up’ became the recurring title of our collective nightmares; and when the inevitable 0-0 ‘draw’ occurred, we braced ourselves for the dreaded shootout (exciting, yes; part of the game, no). We spent equal time trying to find the whereabouts of our star goalkeeper in LA, as we did dreading the possible Monday morning headline: ‘Wiz Extinguish Fire’, an embarrassing parody of the game played in Chicago.
As executives of the league, we criss-crossed the country trying to convince a skeptical nation that the game was here to stay . . . this time. We had learned from past mistakes and we would all look back in 2016 and have a laugh at the good old days. This was a time when our Japanese investors would receive despondent late night faxes with dismal attendance reports; when our Commissioner, the PT Barnum of US soccer, would spin another story extracting any possible positive media he could garner; when our President would go hat in hand for another ‘cash call’ to keep the doors open another quarter. Times were hard, and it often seemed everyone was waiting for the inevitable news that the league had folded. News, that we all now know, never came.
Today, I think of the hard working people that dreamed the dream and drove it to reality. Now, founders of agencies, titans of industry, commissioners of leagues, team executives, heads of renowned football programs, a million dollar arm, and still leaders of the beautiful game in the US. Some that have passed away far too soon, but I imagine still help guide the league in their absence, through their legacy. I was with the league from 1996 -2000, and then joined the gold rush to California, working for numerous start ups, both failed and successful. Reflecting back, however, it was those early days at MLS that have impacted me the most. These were really great people, the kind you would want to work for and count as your friends. This often gets lost in the story of the league, the business of soccer. Great people made great things happen. Is MLS perfect? No, its not perfect. Is it ours? You bet your ass it is. And it is beautiful.