Comments by Tim Leiweke AGE/LA Galaxy

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/15/sports/la-sp-mls-leiweke-20100316?pg=2


"We do this out of passion. If this were a business, we would have quit this 10 years ago."

"We have spent to the tune of $300 million on soccer. We have spent money on facilities. We at one point owned six of the 10 teams to keep the league alive.

"It's not like this league is a work of completion. It's not like we have accomplished what we have to accomplish to be stable and to know we have a great future. It's not like we have reached the potential of a soccer league in this country.

"I would hope that the league has gotten to a point where it's no longer solely dependent on AEG," Leiweke said. "We have been fighting this battle for 10 years.

The fact is, the Galaxy isn't going to make money this year. There are only a couple of [MLS] teams that will make money this year.

"It would have been easy for us to quit over the last 10 years," he said. "There were five different times we could have called it a day. But we didn't. We fought through it.

"There's a price to be paid there. A company like ours is going to look at this and say: ‘So this is what we fought 10 years to build?'
…………………………………………………………………………………………….....

Yes it is.

You fought to build a league that is made up of businesses that employ AND PAY IT”S EMPLOYEES while investing in the infrastructure need by the businesses to generate profits.

It was your plan all along, you asked for some time to get started (concessions) and now it’s time to become a real adult and pay everyone else that is also involved in making the league an operating business. The players have made many sacrifices also.

I would like to see our league concentrating on becoming better and offer more services/entertainment to their customers instead of chasing cost cutting measures that in the long run may ruin their product in the eyes of their customer.

MLS needs another product to sell to its fans. Get creative and find something that pierces the nerve of your loyal fans. We are soccer fans 18 hours a day, and you only give us 90 minutes a week. Guess what we like to have fun.

Is it really that hard to find a way to sell me something for 24.95 that I would enjoying spending the money on and also help to save your poor little league.

PAY THE PLAYERS, AND THEN DO YOUR JOB AND MAKE YOUR PRODUCT SUCCSSSFULL, OR admit that you failed and let someone else have a try (but please don't be whinny owners/managers complaining about your employees).

I guess you haven't been paying attention (who knew?).

The major issue isn't strictly about player wages. It's about freedom of movement for players who are out of contract or released.

When you invest your hundreds of millions instead of your hours of fandom, you can stand at the podium and rail against the unfairness of it all.

While I support anyone's efforts to get the best deal for themselves that they can, and agree that MLS contracts are draconian in their one-sidedness, I reject those who take all this as a personal affront because they're fans and they really, really, really like soccer.

It's not personal. It's business. As soon as you learn to separate the two, you'll feel better.

In America we believe in a system of capitalism with free trading and movement of goods, services, AND SOCCER PLAYERS.

The lack of free choice in movement between domestic employment opportunities because the owners are all in agreement, is the exact opposite.

The trickle-down theory has never been a real idea, it's just a story told by salesmen.

The restrictions on player movements, are about pay. It's about competition for the best players AMOUNG THE OWNERS.

Free Agency is about pay and the ability to ACTUALLY GET PAID, IN MORE THAN JUST THE ONE PLACE YOU WERE ASSIGNED TO BY THE DRAFT.

Now I know why they call it THE MLS DRAFT.
Having no choice in where you will be, is kinda like being in the ARMY.

Funny.

You going to watch the NFL Draft next month?

How about the NBA Draft in June?

In any case, it doesn't matter, because they announced a new CBA today. Players get more money and more freedom, but not free agency.

So you and that pyramid guy can both wait for another day to get the workers of the world to unite.

Interesting.

That's actually a movie cliche. Usually spouted by the Mafia torpedo as he places the muzzle of the .22 caliber pistol behind the victim's right ear.

Seldom used by the good guys except in sarcasm.

"Preserving the imbalance in negotiating power between workers and owner is usually a bad idea," believes

That little old jersey collector

Me

No
No
It dose matter
Will do

Thanks for the advice Bernie

"Under the labor deal agreed to Saturday, the minimum salary for the first 24 players on each team's roster will rise to $40,000 this season. If MLS expands rosters, there will be a class of players making $31,250".

"Last year, 40 players among 323 listed by the MLS Players Union at the start of the season made the $34,000 minimum and 12 more made the developmental minimum of $20,100. The minimum will increase 5 percent annually".

"As part of the deal, each team's salary budget will rise from $2.3 million last year to more than $2.5 million this season and then increase 5 percent a year".

"Players also will get bonuses for wins and appearance fees for international exhibitions, and the league and union will have a joint committee study restarting the reserve division, eliminated after the 2008 season. Provisions will be made for team to retain homegrown youth players".

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/usa/story/032310-mls-looks-to-add-new-stars

Like all labor talks, it was not about the pay.

Yawn.

Look, seriously....some of you really need to make a distinction between business and what you think is neat-o, keen-o. And you need to understand that we don't live in a utopia where everybody gets along and everybody shares in everything equally.

Someone is ALWAYS going to have the upper hand. Especially when...and follow me on this...the entrepreneur, not the worker, is the one investing the millions of dollars in the enterprise. The worker shows up and works. He's not a partner, except collectively. If it's not that group of players, it'll be another. But they're not equals. They're not going to be equals. That's not how BUSINESS works in a capitalist system.

I said it wasn't "strictly" about wages, jackass.

Their stated major cause was freedom of movement. They didn't get as much as they wanted, but they got some. And in exchange for not getting everything they wanted, they got some other nice things. That's called negotiation.

You don't get what you deserve. You get what you can negotiate.

That's called business.

But if you and jersey collector non-sequitor boy want to go back to fantasy world where everybody gets along and grows the game for the good of the game and out of the goodness of their hearts like you lot obviously would if it was just your 300 million you'd put into it, knock yourself out.

You have been on the wrong side of the tracks so many times in the last year it is not even funny.

Mr football business MY ASSsss.
LOL, LOL-ROG, LOL-ROG-SH, LOL-ROG-SH-SUSF
(the last one is: Laugh out loud-rolling on ground-side hurts-spitting up so funny)

I called it, a year ago, about you that is.

You have been on the wrong side of the tracks so many times in the last year it is not even funny.

Mr football business knowledge?? MY ASSsss.