SA Q&A: MLS's Ivan Gazidis on the soccer-filled summer

Interview by Ridge Mahoney
Senior Editor, Soccer America Magazine

SOCCER AMERICA: Isn't this World Series of Football terribly ambitious, seeing that MLS is in the middle of its season and SUM is also running the CONCACAF Gold Cup?

IVAN GAZIDIS: We've got resources in every area that nobody else has, everything from 10 years of knowledge and experience to extraordinarily strong investors to the opportunity to develop relationships such as exchanges or whatever they may be. We have our own stadiums, our own facilities, and also we're in the same business as these clubs that are coming over, so we understand each other really well and think about a lot of the same things.

We have the capabilities to do everything we're doing. Obviously, there's a lot of activity this summer, but one of the resources I didn't mention was we have 12 team staffs all across the country to draw from. So we really have tremendous management resources.

SA: Doesn't all this activity overshadow MLS, especially the All-Star Game? Fulham really doesn't stack up well against AC Milan, Chelsea and Real Madrid.

IG: The All-Star Game has always been a game that will stand on its own two feet. The selection of Fulham was made far in advance and was based on the fact that Fulham has a strong connection with the United States and in particular with Brian McBride in the Columbus market. There were very good reasons to have Fulham in the All-Star Game and I don't think those reasons are diminished at all by the activity in Chicago or New York or Boston.

SA: How was the decision made to put the Real Madrid-Guadalajara match in Soldier Field?

IG: I don't think there was any dearth of games in Chicago that led us to put the game there. It's a good market. We had an opportunity there to do a doubleheader and Chivas has a very good following in Chicago, so there are a lot of elements that make sense.

It could have been in other places, I don't think it's a no-brainer to put it in Chicago. I think it will be very successful there.

SA: How long has MLS been discussing events with Real Madrid and will this work out better than their canceled appearance in last year's All-Star Game?

IG: It's been about three years we've been speaking with Real Madrid. It's challenging, because of what happened last year, which is nobody's fault but their Champions League schedule simply meant that they couldn't come.

Their commercial opportunities in the Far East are driven far more by television than in the U.S. Here you have to base it on ticket revenues. When they come here, it's a big opportunity cost for them, even if they're making good money. They can make a lot more money in other parts of the world.

SA: Are MLS teams ready to take on clubs of this caliber, even if the foreign players are just starting their preseasons?

IG:  I believe our players are much better than they're given credit for. They've proven that again and again when given the opportunity on the world stage. The simplest answer is, we'll find out.

The Galaxy is going to play against Real Madrid, and D.C. United is going to play against Chelsea, Chicago will play AC Milan, and our all-stars are going to play against Fulham. That's a crackerjack schedule of challenges for MLS teams and I think we'll prove ourselves.

SA: How important are these games to the foreign clubs, as compared to the players who turned out for England against the U.S. and Colombia in May?

IG: For a club team, preseason games are much more meaningful. For the England game, there's a slightly different dynamic, because you've got players trying to prove themselves.

Club postseason tours have a different flavor than preseason tours, because you have players trying to establish themselves for the upcoming year. You've probably got a couple of new signings and you've got a lot to prove, and that's true for Chelsea, AC Milan, Fulham and Real Madrid.

Postseason national team tours aren't quite the same.

SA: Does the bankruptcy of ChampionsWorld point out that bringing major soccer clubs to America isn't necessarily an automatic success?

IG: I believe that the Chelseas, Real Madrids and AC Milans are almost unprecedented super clubs. As we globalize, that trend will continue. People want to watch superstar players, but it's not enough to hang your hat on that. You have to manage it right.

I think Champions World did some tremendous things. They generated a huge amount of interest in the games they had and I think they did a lot of things right. This is a difficult business and we're fortunate we have extremely committed, long-term, and financially capable owners.

SA: Will the games involving MLS teams be more or less competitive than the AC Milan-Chelsea matchups?

IG: Playing MLS teams is sure to generate an interesting in-stadium dynamic. It's one thing when two overseas teams play each other in a preseason exhibition game. I can assure you our MLS teams will be deeply competitive and will want to win. It's not possible to step on a field as a player against a competitive team and not be competitive yourself.

It's also true for the fans; they will be very committed to those games. The atmosphere will be a lot more electric than the rather passive atmosphere you tend to get when people pay a high ticket price and say, "OK, entertain me." For the games against our teams there will be a rooting interest. I'm sure the Chicago fans will want their team to beat AC Milan, and when the Galaxy plays Real Madrid, the Home Depot Center is going to be rocking.