The following are Dec. 11 MLS press conference quotes, in the wake of the leagueÆs legal victory, from Don Garber (MLS Commissioner), Mark Abbott (MLS chief operating officer), Ivan Gazidis (MLS executive V.P. player Relations and operations), Michael Cardozo (Proskauer Rose LLP, MLS legal counsel) and Paul Robbins (U.S. Soccer Federation Legal Counsel). On Dec. 11, at the conclusion of a 12-week trial, a federal court jury in Boston unanimously found that MLS is not an illegal monopoly, as the lawyers for the soccer players had claimed. The verdict resolves all but some minor claims in a class action lawsuit that was originally filed by a small group of MLS players in 1997. Don Garber’s Opening Comments “About an hour ago, we were informed that in conclusion of the trial, the jury in Boston unanimously found in MLS’s favor. The league is not an illegal monopoly, as the lawyers for the soccer players had claimed. I want to thank the jury that has been sitting in federal court every day now for almost a quarter of a year. I thank them for their commitment to the legal process.” “We never viewed this as a lawsuit between MLS and our players. As we’ve said after the favorable summary judgment on the single-entity issue, this case was brought by the NFL Players Association for reasons of their own. We never felt the case was in the best interest of the MLS players. At the beginning of the case we told the players in 1997 that we’d rather spend the money on player salaries than the lawsuit.” “Our cost since the lawsuit was filed is in excess of $10 million. We do believe the players were misled by their attorneys, into pursuing something that was not in the best interest of the sport. We believe the assets could have been better used toward growing the sport in this country.” “We will now refocus on our business. Our focus will turn toward what we need to do to grow this sport to the highest level in this country. We look forward to spending the next months and years doing that.” Ivan Gazidis’ Opening Comments “I, like everyone else am very pleased that this major distraction is behind us, I wish we hadn’t been forced to use precious league resources and management time to establish our right to push soccer forward into the 21st century. ôI speak with our players and agents on a daily basis. I believe, notwithstanding the position taken by the MLS Players Association, that many of our players and agents agreed with our stance.” Mark Abbott’s Opening Comments “I want to reiterate what Don has said, we have never viewed this as a legal battle between the league and its players. It was a battle between us and the NFL Players Association. Again, we had offered the players the money that we had allocated to spend on legal fees and it was rejected. It goes to show definitely that the NFLPA had an agenda that is distinctly different from our players.” “We found ourselves in a perverse situation over the last 12 weeks, doing everything that we could to defend our league and preserve the opportunities for these players while their purported representatives were doing everything they could to bring down the league. ôWe are very pleased with the result, we were very confident that this would be the result. In the end, it was clear that was a direct and correct decision.” Michael Cardozo’s Opening Comments “As Mark said, this was a 12-week trial, with 11 weeks of testimony. Nine of the 11 weeks were spent by the players, while MLS only spent two weeks. The judge bent over backwards to let them have their day in court. The Judge was very, very fair. I am very confident that there is no valid basis to appeal what happened today.” “What is particularly significant is that the jury was asked a series of questions at the end of the day. They only needed to answer two questions. They found that the market that MLS competes for its players is international and that is significant. It isn’t limited to the United States. ôThat is significant because the players keep saying they will appeal the single entity ruling in April. If they do, it won’t matter because of what the jury ruled on the market question. There, MLS will win any claim even if the appellate court sends the case down for a trial. Today was a great and well deserved result based upon the evidence of enormous significance. This should put an end to any litigation that MLS faces on the matter.” Paul Robbins’ Opening Comments “The Federation was under attack here for two decisions it made in 1993. One was to designate only one league as a Division I league and second to choose MLS as that league instead of the American Professional Soccer League. The Federation is the national governing body in the U.S. and has a mandate under that act to set national goals and to develop interest and participation in soccer in this country. The Federation believes very strongly that everything it did was in compliance with that mandate. We are very glad that the jury found in our favor in this matter.” Gazidis on bad blood with some of the players: “I think that a great many of our players and agents have frankly been supportive of an organization that has given them a chance to play in a Division I soccer league in the United States. ôUltimately what we’re providing is a new opportunity for players to be part of an international player market, as established by the jury today. It gives us the green light to go ahead and take soccer forward. Our players with be a beneficiaries of this in the long term.” Garber on breaking even financially: “Clearly, the investors knew when they originally set about funding and establishing the league that it would be a long-term commitment. They are not happy about the losses but are very committed as you saw in New York, where they are looking at building two stadiums. ôThe investors know we have to continue in that direction to start breaking even. We have not forecasted a break-even point yet. They know it is going to take time, we have to do a lot of things to get there. We need to build stadiums and form good staffs. The average fan is not looking at an MLS game and thinking about the money. It is a business issue that does not have an impact on fan development.” Abbott on the prospects of labor peace for the coming season: “There has not been a time that we haven’t had management-labor peace throughout this entire period. We have been in a legal battle with the National Football League Players Association and their law firm over the single entity. This has nothing to do with the soccer players. This has been about some other agenda they have on their own. We have not had a lack of management-labor peace in the past and we don’t expect to have one in the future. We expect things to go as they are.” Cardozo on how all the players followed this lawsuit: “One of the official lawyers of the players in this case was Richard Berthelsen, who’s the inside lawyer for the NFL Players Association and he was in court virtually everyday including today working with the players’ lawyers. Berthelsen’s name is on all the papers.” Cardozo on why operating in an international marketplace puts an end to the appeal to the single entity structure: “The reason is the single entity claim was brought under what is called Section 1 of the Sherman Act — a restraint of trade. And you have to show a restraint of trade in a relevant market. So even if by some stretch of the imagination, the appellate court said MLS is not a single entity, then you would view the way it operated and you would still ask the question ‘Does the way it operates with respect to players constitute a restraint of trade in a relevant market?’ And the minute you utter those words “in a relevant market” you’re back to the same question. ôBecause if MLS is viewed as simply as a participating in the international market for example, obviously what MLS does has a very, very small effect when you consider all the different players who participate around the world.” Garber on the repercussions of the decision: “Before we close off I want to make a point for everybody on the call. ôObviously MLS is pleased by the verdict. But I want to be very clear that this is not something we are gloating about. We clearly feel that it’s a shame we got to this point. But I will say on behalf of the league and on behalf of our investors, all whom we’ve spoken to this afternoon, that now it was time to sit down and get very focused on getting back on track and doing the things that are necessary to build, the sport in this country. But I don’t want to leave anybody the impression that this is something that the league or our investors are gloating about.” Garber recaps the day’s events: “What happened today after a three-month trial in federal court in Boston the jury has found that MLS is not an illegal monopoly, something that was being charged by the lawyers for the soccer players in the league. ôIt’s something we’re pleased about but at the same time we’re looking forward to doing all we need to do to continue growing the sport in this country. But it was a trial that lasted since late summer and there were charges that were filed many years ago and the league has spent many millions of dollars defending itself in this case and now we’re looking forward to doing what we need to do to move forward.”