“SUM helped launch us into an entirely different level of respect and credibility. It’s raised the commercial value of the sport in this country. MLS is one of the boats in a rising tide.”
— MLS Commissioner Don Garber on MLS’s marketing affiliate Soccer United Marketing that has had the U.S. English-language TV rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cup and is expected to turn a profit on the 2006 World Cup. It is estimated that SUM will receive about $200 million for MLS TV rights for the next eight years. (Bloomberg)