Commisioner Don Garber on all things MLS

MLS commissioner Don Garber addressed the media in a national teleconference Tuesday. Much of the conversation obviously centered around the new CBA. You can read more about that here at SI.com. But Garber had a lot to say elsewhere around the league on the eve of the 15^th season. Here are some other little zips, zaps and zingers from Garber.

• Seattle has sold over 32,000 season tickets, an MLS record. That means they’ll establish an MLS record for average season attendance once again – because no one else is going to top the 33K or so the Sigi Sounders will average.

• Toronto has sold out every game. Again. The only thing that keeps Toronto from being Seattle in terms of attendance is a smaller venue.

• Red Bull Arena may look like the natural place to hold MLS Cup 2010 – but it ain’t gonna happen. Garber and the deciders are being careful not to ask the staff at the spanking new grounds to bite off more than they can chew on this first go-round. “But there’s no doubt we will have an MLS cup and Red Bull Arena someday, and someday soon, assuming we keep the format that we now have,” Garber said.

• So, will MLS Cup 2k10 land in Toronto? Some scribes up there are already saying so. Garber sure seemed to lean in that direction. He noted that last year during MLS Cup week in rainy, cold Seattle, that his good friends at Toronto FC alerted him that conditions there were pleasant and 55 degrees. Hint, hint.

• Garber addressed the issue of under-performing markets that already have stadiums in place. (You know who you are, ye under-performing markets.) Nothing new here, although he reiterated what probably needs to be reiterated. That there is no magic bullet. A stadium is a massive part of the package, but must be supported with other elements. Clubs must be relevant in the local markets. They must connect properly with local sponsors. The need the right staff in place, committed ownership, an understanding of marketing, a clear ability to communicate with diverse audiences and so on. And Garber didn’t mention this one, but I will: it sure helps to put a winning product on the field.

• Your next expansion side: Montreal. Nothing is official, but Garber did everything but announce it formally. He said the CBA negotiations slowed progress of dealing with the Saputo ownership group, but that he planned to pick up quickly where he left off. “I called Joey and said we’ve got to take timeout, and that hopefully we’ll be back to you soon.” Well, it’s “soon,” and it doesn’t sound like any hurdles left to clear. Sounds like they’ll make it official once they get firm commitments to expand and renovate the stadium so team can be economically viable.

• Finally, Garber went upside the head on D.C. politicians. Hard. Decide for yourself if he’s seriously POed about the inability to generate movement on a stadium for D.C.:

“I just can’t understand why we can’t make progress in D.C., and what more do we need to do to have the politicians in that community understand the relevance of that club, it’s deep commitment to the community. …I am tired of going down to meetings and getting my back slapped and (going to) faux press conferences with mayors and local city officials to have them backtrack on that because they can’t get out of their own way. And quite frankly, it’s frustrating. And at some point, we are doing to have to do something about it.”

Hmmm. Something? Like move the team?

“It’s premature to say we would move it. But if they don’t get a stadium ... that team will not be able to succeed and we would have to address what that means.”