MLS conference call guests: MLS deputy commissioner – Ivan Gazidis San Jose Earthquakes defender – Troy Dayak D.C. United CEO/president/general manager – Kevin Payne U.S. coach Bruce Arena Ivan Gazidis’ Opening Comments: “I’d like to extend a special welcome to Kevin Payne and Troy Dayak – particularly to Troy Dayak. After everything Troy has been through with his injury it’s nice to see him back in MLS doing so well and showing he belongs at this level. We’re very pleased to have Troy performing so well for the Earthquakes.” “We have a big game this weekend when the MetroStars and Los Angeles Galaxy play each other at Giants Stadium. They are the two hottest teams at the moment both with three consecutive wins. One of those streaks will obviously come to an end this weekend. That should be a great matchup. “We also have a couple of Football Confederation tournaments that start in May. We have the Copa Caribe that starts on May 16 in Trinidad and Tobago. We’ve got a number of players who may be participating in that: Andy Williams (Jamaica), Wolde Harris (Jamaica), Tyrone Marshall (Jamaica), Ansil Elcock (Trinidad), Gary Glasgow (Trinidad) and Craig Demmin (Trinidad). This is a Gold Cup Qualifying Tournament. There is another one a week later for Central American teams that will take place in Honduras. In that tournament we’ll have Jorge ‘Zarco’ Rodriguez (El Salvador), Raul Diaz Arce (El Salvador), Mauricio Cienfuegos (El Salvador), Alex Pineda Chacon (Honduras), William Sunsing (Costa Rica) and Mauricio Wright (Costa Rica). “We had an incredible weekend in MLS. Three of our six games were decided in the last three minutes or overtime. In San Jose, New England had a last minute comeback to produce an exciting 3-2 finish there which gave Frank Yallop a couple of heart attacks I imagine. We’ve had a lot of goals scored in the last fifteen minutes of games this year: 23 of the 91 goals scored so far have been scored in the last 15 minutes. “I’m pleased to have Kevin Payne on the call to talk about our first MLS-WUSA doubleheader. I’ve been asked a number of times in past calls about the competition that people see existing between MLS and WUSA. As I’ve always said I think it’s a great opportunity for us to work together to develop the sport and grow the pie for both of us. We’re working in many ways with the WUSA to develop the sport. In particular I think this doubleheader is going to give a welcome boost to their attendance this weekend.” Kevin Payne’s Opening Comments: “I’d like to also say welcome back to Troy. He deserves a lot of credit. I hope he doesn’t play too well this Saturday. We’re all very excited about the doubleheader that will take place this weekend. We are at about 27,000 tickets out right now for that game. We are expecting that we will go over 30,000 for sure. The doubleheader will be a great opportunity for many of D.C. United’s fans to have a chance to see the Washington Freedom and that product. It does demonstrate the fact that we at MLS are very committed to trying to assist the development of the sport at every single level. There are a number of other programs that we’re involved in here at D.C. United at the grass roots level at the youth or adult range that demonstrate that as well. We’re very pleased that this game is going the way it is and it’s working according to plan.” Troy Dayak’s Opening Comments: “Kevin and Ivan really understand how hard it’s been for me to come back and the dedication and hard work it takes to get back at this top level. I’m basking in the sun of California and in the contentment of everything. I barely wiped the smile off my face from the first goal in Los Angeles to open our season and then I was fortunate to get another one against New England last weekend. The smile is back on my face. It’s nice to be back on the top level. “For people who don’t know the full story. I was diagnosed with herniation in my C-5, C-6 spine in the neck and I was told by the doctors at the age of 25 that my career was over and that I would never play soccer again. At the same exact time Daryl ‘Moose’ Johnston of the Dallas Cowboys had the exact same injury and we spent a lot of time on the phone calling each other back and forth getting progress reports. It was good to have someone to go along with and who knows what you’re feeling at the same time. Unfortunately for ‘Moose’, he’s retired now. The injury is so serious that if you don’t heal it properly it can be a very dangerous thing. But I’m happy I feel at 100 percent now and I’m back. This year is very exciting for me. From the first year with the San Jose Clash with Missael Espinoza, Michael Emenalo, Ben Iroha and John Doyle – that’s the kind of team we have now – a playoff caliber team. I’m anxious to help the young guys strive in their career to get better. It’s exciting for me to play out here with these guys and to see the talent and potential that we have and to be a spark for the team.” Kevin Payne on marketing and ticketing aspects of the doubleheader on Saturday: “We don’t have totally different dynamics as to who our demographics are. It’s true that we have two components they do not have: hard core young adult fans and Latino fans. But, the majority of our fans are still suburban families as are the Freedom’s. So, there’s not that much difference. The fact is that this game was our ‘Youth Game’ and was established as such. It’s not that we have a single ‘Youth Game’ but in the spring and in the fall we generally identify one particular game that we work with a lot of the clubs in the area on. And this (vs. San Jose Earthquakes) was it. This game had commitments for upwards of 20,000 tickets before we decided to do it as a doubleheader. It’s the reason why we chose to do it as a doubleheader. It was to be in a position to help the Freedom and to assist them in their second home game. So we’re very happy with how it’s worked out. As far as the logistics, the fact that it was our game and our date, the priority for seating is going to our season ticket holders. We also have a lot more and so it makes sense to handle it that way. As of right now everything seems to be running pretty smoothly and I think everybody is going to have a very nice time.” Kevin Payne on what D.C. United takes from the MLS-WUSA doubleheader: “We may have some idea after the game. There is a very strong commitment in our league and certainly an enormously strong commitment here at D.C. United to do everything we can to help this sport succeed at every level. We’re going to be taking the lead in a very significant way in the coming months looking at the whole issue of field development and redevelopment in Northern Virginia and elsewhere. Some people may argue that there’s no direct gain for us in that. But we believe that anything that moves the sport forward helps us. So we are able to help the Freedom in some way and we’ve tried to help them. We have a good relationship. There are things we were able to give them a heads-up on that probably assisted. We want to continue to do that.” Kevin Payne on how revenue will be divided at the doubleheader: “I’m not going to get into the specifics of the financial dynamics but the great majority of the gate that will be generated will be by our fans and tickets that we’ve sold and that will be effectively reflected in the financial field.” Kevin Payne on Freedom’s promotion of the game: “You have limited resources in this business especially when you’re starting out. Maybe they’ve decided that they know there’s going to be a big crowd for this game and maybe they’ve decided to spend more of their time on some of their remaining home games. I don’t know if that’s the case. The majority of the sales by a pretty significant margin are coming out of our office. But I don’ think it’s because they are not trying. They have other things that concern them right now. This was a game we already effectively had commitments in the neighborhood of 20,000 two months ago. We have a track record with this date in May. It’s not like we’ve said you do this and you do that. Both parties were going to try what they could to maximize the game.” Dayak on his feelings when doctors told him he couldn’t play soccer again: “It was shocking. It’s one of those things where you say ‘What am I going to do now?’ Right from high school I turned professional to play with the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks. To me it was unbelievable that I was not going to be able to play the sport I love or earn a living for my family or myself. At that point I was shocked. After it set in a little bit I sought out the most knowledgeable people in the field and asked their opinion on what would happen. It was such a rare injury and there were so many doctors who had never seen that in professional soccer. It was a matter of finding the doctors who did see it in professional sports and talking to them about how to come back from it and what it takes to come back from it. Fortunately MLS and San Jose’s team physicians were able to get me in touch with those doctors.” Dayak on what drove him to come back: “I think I was most concerned with getting healthy at the time. It was excruciating. I remember after the game I couldn’t even drive home. I had to have someone drive me home. I remember sleeping while sitting straight up in the chair because I couldn’t lay down flat on my back. So for me it was a matter of getting healthy. Once I did and started to feel great, it was such a relief not to have that pain in my neck. I felt great and I felt the best thing I could have done was to have the surgery. From then on it was a matter of strengthening the muscles around the neck and strengthening my body so they can work as shock absorbers. With the fusion there, now it’s in a solid fused state and it’s solid. Once I was injured, what concerned me the most was getting rid of the pain and getting the surgery. After that it was a matter of wanting to come back to play again.” Dayak on when he made the decision to come back and play: “Five or six months after the surgery when I really started to get better. It lingered for a while because it was a long-healing surgery. It took a year for it to fully recover and what they call ‘unionize’ with the bone from your hip to your vertebrae. Once it was solidly stated all the way around the vertebrae and fused completely I knew I wanted to work hard to get to the top level. Then it was just a matter of dedicating myself from there on out.” Gazidis on the elements of cooperation between MLS and WUSA: “There were many parts to the agreement. We’ve helped in many different areas. You have to bear in mind we created a blueprint. We had operations manuals and player contracts. We had all these types of things we had to work on from scratch when we were setting up. So we had a blueprint to give them. We worked very hard with WUSA from their inception with a great amount of information and all of our best knowledge and experience as to how they can structure themselves. Our Chief Operating Officer was actually given a leave of absence to develop the WUSA business plan. It could not have been a closer collaboration on our part. The agreement itself has many different aspects from joint marketing – you’ll see WUSA field boards at MLS games – through to the situation we managed to resolve in San Jose, where we allowed the WUSA to play at the stadium where we have a lease. In all of these things we’ve been very supportive. I’m happy about the way it’s worked and I’m sure the WUSA is happy about it as well.” Gazidis on what MLS is getting out of the agreement with WUSA: “We’re trying to grow the sport in all kinds of different ways and the women’s game is one of those. Anything that helps grow the sport or raise the awareness of the sport is going to be a good thing for all of us and ultimately a good thing for MLS in particular. We get reciprocal field boards at their games. We have a couple of doubleheaders with them. That’s primarily a benefit that goes to them rather than to us. But that’s a part of growing the game.” Payne on how Americans are becoming top international players in MLS: “I think every player’s situation is somewhat unique. In general I think the level of our league is such that a player who is going to have an opportunity to stay here and play games at this level and be valued for what he is and what he brings to the table, there is a great advantage to him on remaining. The situation that an American player faces in Europe is quite a difficult one, especially for a young player. Styles of play are different, lifestyles are different. And in many cases they are not getting opportunities to play with the first team. The fact of the matter is that our league is considerably better than second division leagues in European countries. Ben Olsen played at Nottingham Forest but in my opinion the soccer we play is at least as good as that. If you look at the players who are in Bruce Arena’s group now, the majority of the foreign group are really guys who are foreign. Earnie Stewart and David Regis are not a product of the American soccer system. Kasey (Keller) is a little different because he went over years ago when there was no option here as did Claudio (Reyna). But most of the young players who have gone have not found the experience terribly rewarding. Steve Cherundolo is a bit of an exception to that.” Dayak on how American players are choosing to stay in the U.S.: “It’s an unbelievable opportunity. I wish this league was here when I was 18-years-old. Just look at a kid like Landon Donovan. To have that opportunity to play week in and week out and actually play in your own country or your own hometown as it is for me, is a brilliant opportunity. When I was playing on the national team in 1991 the players spoke about having a camp where the players are living together. That’s the best training environment to grow and establish yourself as a player. For us to have this league in the United States it’s only going to get better. You can see players’ touches on the ball and the comfort level of players at a younger age now is phenomenal. Landon is a young kid and his comfort zone with the ball and playing against top-notch defenders and hard men who will tackle you is phenomenal. You see that throughout the league and that’s because they have an opportunity to play day-in and day-out here in the United States.” Dayak on how the injury that sidelined him occurred: “The injury occurred in a practice game at Spartan Stadium. It was a long ball played over the top and it was a foot race between me and the forward. I beat him to the ball and the ball was heading into the penalty area but the ‘keeper was coming out at the same time to retrieve the ball. The forward unintentionally clipped my heels and it was a freak thing. I fell right in front of the ‘keeper who was coming out to slide tackle the ball away because it was at the edge of the box. The goalkeeper’s knee went on the top of my head in an ‘axial load’ impact and compressed it so strongly that it just erupted. The doctor told me after looking at the MRI that it was within millimeters of paralyzation. For me it was a fortunate incident but it was also a freak accident which you don’t see happen very often.” Dayak on returning to play in Washington, D.C.: “D.C. is a great place to play. What I remember most about D.C. is the banging of the stadium. You can actually see the stadium hopping. You look up into the seats and you see the crowd jumping up and down and the seats are going with them. It’s an intimidating place to play. For the younger players, they’re going to get a taste of that. For me, a veteran player who has played with the national team and junior World Cup teams, I’ve seen some big crowds and some vicious fans. I’ll be used to it. My job is to make sure the boys are calm with it and keep them focused.” Gazidis on the field conditions at Giants Stadium: “It’s hugely disappointing. I’ve seen the field week on week and each week we’re told it’s going to be better because the weather has been bad. Then the weather is good and it’s not better. It’s been enormously disappointing particularly after the investment we’ve made over the years in the tray system there. I would have thought there would be a way to insert trays or do something. All I know is our operations people are spending an enormous amount of time with the Stadium Authority trying to work on the condition of the field. But I have the same disappointment that anybody does in seeing that field week after week in what I consider to be a less than optimal condition.” Dayak on scoring in his first game back: “I don’t know if you saw the game but if you see my face, I felt like I jumped out of my skin completely. I lost my voice and I winded myself all in the celebration after the goal. I literally gave myself stomach cramps. I could barely play for the next ten minutes. It meant so much to me. I wanted it more than any of the 22 players out there. It shows you that when you work hard at things and you strive for something, good things happen. Same thing happened here at home. I wanted to be the first player to score at home for us to open the season. Once again, I willed it and desired to get to the ball and good things happened. But the chapter is not closed yet. I still have a lot of soccer to play.” Payne on the impact of MLS on the improvement of the U.S. national team: “There is no question. Bruce Arena happens to be sitting here in our office. We were just chatting about how he has such a great problem because he has depth at every position. That is absolutely a product of MLS. The whole developmental system in this country deserves credit. Bruce has the benefit of many, many more players to choose from than his predecessors and the difference in numbers is primarily because of MLS.” U.S. national team head coach Bruce Arena on the impact of MLS on the U.S. national team: “Clearly I think our success is largely due to MLS to be honest. There are other factors but there has never been a national team coach who sits in the position I’m sitting in. We have depth at every position and a lot of competition because of it. In the end we’re going to be a better team for it. MLS is a much better product than it’s given credit for. I can see that first hand. I think the improvement of the young Americans and the more experienced Americans in MLS has been incredible over the years and it adds up to us being a more successful team.” Payne on the ‘youth game’ model around the league: “We have in the past tried to share it. As we’ve refined it more we’ve always shared the information with the league. I think some teams in the league have tried to emulate what has worked for us as we have done with things which have worked for other teams. Some teams probably need to do a much better job with that. It’s not a terribly complicated process but the key is that you have to understand the youth soccer market well enough to know the level you can be effective. We don’t succeed because we go to the state association to ask them for help. We have a very good relationship with the state association but that’s purely a political relationship. We go to the individual club level and work very closely with those organizations. In recent weeks, I’ve been meeting with a number of them in face-to-face meetings to talk about a series of programs we want to create with them that include a ticket component but also a number of other opportunities to cooperate: coaching programs for their coaches, our team appearing at their functions, in some cases even full scale D.C. United training sessions when their facilities are up to the professional level. We think that will pay dividends big time in the long run. We’ll see it in connection with the doubleheader we have later this year with the U.S. vs. Honduras match. We’ll see a better response by U.S. fans to that game than we’ve ever seen on the east coast.” Arena on Tony Sanneh’s recovery from surgery and if he expects to call in Eddie Pope for the Ecuador match: “We will not call in any MLS players who have games on June 9. The only two clubs available for the Ecuador game from MLS will be the MetroStars and Colorado Rapids. Eddie Pope has a game on June 9 with D.C. United and therefore we will not call him. Tony Sanneh is doing fine. He’s walking and exercising on a regular basis and expects to be jogging by this weekend.” Gazidis on the momentum building for MLS and American soccer: “We’ve always had a long term vision from our ownership. We’ve been very fortunate to have the kind of owners who have the capacity to take that vision. I don’t feel we’re going to have a eureka event that will suddenly catapult us to where we want to be. It’s going to be a growth by doing the right things one after the other over a long period of time. Clearly one of the right things for us to do is to grow all aspects of the sport, the women’s and youth game. In terms of the WUSA, we’re early in the season. It’s impossible to draw too many definitive conclusions where we are at the moment in terms of our attendance and momentum. A better time to assess that is going to be later on in the year perhaps around the All-Star break in July when we’ll have a clear idea of how this season is really unfolding in terms of momentum. I certainly feel very positive things on the playing side and ultimately where the focus is on our product and raising the level of the game, that is going to reap rewards for us because having an attractive product is where it all starts and ends.” Payne on the momentum building for MLS and American soccer: “In our market I think we’ve seen quite an effect on the youth soccer market by the presence of D.C. United over the years. My daughter played in a tournament last year: The Fairfax Police Youth Council Tournament which had about four hundred teams and the majority of teams in that tournament were local. Almost one hundred of those teams were named ‘United’. I doubt six years ago you would have found a quarter of the teams with that name. We work very closely with that marketplace. As we move their objectives forward cooperatively, that will pay off for us in the long run. In my opinion it’s clearly a case of a rising tide lifting all boats.” Arena on the performance of Clint Mathis and Claudio Reyna against Costa Rica and whether they can play together in midfield: “I’m not going to put numbers on their performances. Clint was part of the goal that won the game and Claudio did things that we didn’t have before in the midfield and played well. In total they both played well. Would I ever use them both in the midfield? Yes, it’s a possibility. We have a lot more games left and we have to continue to look at ways to make our team better. However we line them up it’s likely that both will be on the field at the same time.”