Major League Soccer owners

Major League Soccer owners own a share in the league and have the right to operate a team. Major League Soccer operates under a single-entity structure in which teams and player contracts are centrally owned by the league.[1][2][3][4] Each Major League Soccer team has an investor-operator that is a shareholder in the league.[5] In order to control costs, the league shares revenues and holds players contracts instead of players contracting with individual teams.

The league has 20 investor-operators for its 20 clubs. AEG, which at one time invested in six clubs, solely owns one team (LA Galaxy). Lamar Hunt used to own multiple teams, but now Hunt Sports owns only one team (FC Dallas). Two of the league's teams are owned, at least in part, by a foreigner — Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz (New York Red Bulls), and Indonesian Erick Thohir (D.C. United).[6]

History

Having multiple clubs owned by a single owner was a necessity in the league's first ten years.[7] At one time Phil Anschutz's AEG owned six MLS clubs in MLS, and Lamar Hunt's Hunt Sports owned three franchises. In order to attract additional investors, in 2002 the league announced changes to the operating agreement between the league and its teams to improve team revenues and increase the incentives to be an individual club owner.[8] These changes included granting owners the rights to a certain number of players they develop through their club's academy system each year, sharing the profits of Soccer United Marketing, and being able to sell individual club jersey sponsorships.[8]

As MLS appeared to be on the brink of overall profitability in 2006 and developed significant expansion plans, MLS announced that it wanted each club to have a distinct owner.[9] The league has attracted new ownership that have injected more money into the league.[6] Examples include Red Bull's purchase of the MetroStars from AEG in 2006 for over $100 million.[7][10]

Fraser

In Fraser v. Major League Soccer, a lawsuit filed in 1996 and decided in 2002, the league won a legal battle with its players in which the court ruled that MLS was a single entity that can lawfully centrally contract for player services.[1] The court also ruled that even absent their collective bargaining agreement, players could opt to play in other leagues if they were unsatisfied.[1]

List of MLS owners

Chicago Fire
Colorado Rapids
Columbus Crew
D.C. United
FC Dallas
Houston Dynamo
Los Angeles Galaxy
Montreal Impact
New England Revolution
New York City FC
New York Red Bulls
Orlando City SC
Philadelphia Union
Portland Timbers
Real Salt Lake
San Jose Earthquakes
Seattle Sounders FC
Sporting Kansas City
Toronto FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Future MLS Owners

Atlanta United FC
Los Angeles FC
Minnesota United FC
Miami

List of defunct MLS teams

Chivas USA
Miami Fusion
Tampa Bay Mutiny

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fraser v. Major League Soccer, 01 F.3d 1296 (1st Cir. 2002).
  2. ↑ "Red Bull Is New Owner, and Name, of MetroStars", New York Times, March 10, 2006.
  3. ↑ "Roundtable: Is MLS Single Entity Here To Stay?", SB Nation, February 28, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Dempsey Transfer Highlights Influence of MLS Single-Entity Economic Structure", Business of Soccer, August 26, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2014. ("Under MLS’s current structure, MLS owns all teams in the league but contracts with operator-investors (more frequently referred to in conversations as team “owners”) who manage teams and are entitled to certain potential benefits from running the teams. That is, the team “owners” in MLS, including AEG, the Kraft family, and others, are really operator-investors in MLS’s structure.")
  5. ↑ "About Major League Soccer | PRESS BOX". Pressbox.mlssoccer.com. Retrieved June 2, 2014. Major League Soccer is structured as a single, limited liability company (single-entity). In the single-entity business structure, club operators own a financial stake in the League, not just their individual team.
  6. 1 2 Forbes, "Major League Soccer's Billionaire Owners", November 20, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Los Angeles Times, "MLS Looks Way Down the Field", March 29, 2006.
  8. 1 2 Sports Illustrated, "Garber, Horowitz discuss MLS contraction", January 9, 2002.
  9. ↑ Sports Business Daily, "MLS’ Don Garber Talks State Of The League With The Daily", April 5, 2007.
  10. ↑ New York Times, "Red Bull Is New Owner, and Name, of MetroStars", March 10, 2006.
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