Gaia Labs @PhilosophicalVC

MLS fans and Don Garber after putting D1 football in the hands of Private Equity Executives

This question is similar to the question Wilhelm Reich asked — namely, why do human beings lend full support to the very leaders that oppresses them? A partial answer is that capitalism manufactures two things (which benefit the capitalist): the product and the consumer. Marketing prepares the mind of the consumer to make the purchase and (the false notion of) competition creates a veiled notion of variety amidst commodification. MLS is the McDonald’s franchise version of football. People in the USA don’t know what a real hamburger tastes like, because real hamburgers are not allowed to be sold. Instead, they vicariously taste the “real thing” by following the EPL, La Liga and the Bundesliga or top-tier clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG, Liverpool, etc. on television. Behind this entire dynamic is the invisible hand of the NFL.

I’m not sure where you studied Econ 101. Let’s be precise. MLS’s owner-operator investors (OOs) hold limited partnership interests in a Delaware LLC, not shares. Shares are held in corporations, usually a “C” corporation (“S” and “B” corporations also exist—I’ll leave that research up to you). All of the investors in MLS from its inception in 1996 until today are extremely wealthy (the 1/10 of 1% of the population). LLCs (or Limited Liability Corporations) are just that, they are legal structures that limit the downside of an investment to the amount of the investment and they come with tax advantages if they are structured as partnerships for tax purposes (which it is safe to say, was part of MLS’s strategy). That means that losses from the enterprise (MLS) can be upstreamed annually at tax time pro rata to the OOs, and those losses can be used as tax loss carry forwards, which can reduce the tax liability of other taxable revenue from the OOs other non-MLS portfolio investments. It very likely includes stadium CAPEX (but that would have to be checked on a case by case basis, depending on the structure of the financing). With the help of U.S. Soccer, MLS has had a monopoly for the so-called Division 1 in the USA and Canada for 30 straight years. Socialists DO NOT CREATE MONOPOLIES in capitalist countries. A group of co-investors does not equal the definition of socialism. Capitalists own the means of production. In the case of MLS, the billionaire OOs own the means of production. They own and control the league and the teams and infrastructure (TV rights, merchandising, corporate sponsorship, stadiums, player’s contracts, player transfers, etc.). What profits that exist (which in MLS’s case is doubtful) go to the OOs. The players are labor. The fans are consumers. The closest to socialism, where the fans own the means of production, is the Bundesliga, where the 50% + 1 Share Rule (50+1) requires that the fans have at least voting control. 33 of the 36 clubs in the Bundesliga adhere to 50+1. Real Madrid and Barcelona and most of the clubs in Latin America (e.g., Flamengo, Palmeiras, Boca Juniors, River Plate, etc.) are fan owned and controlled.

@MrMaxican @starsnstripesfc “MLS is a business.” But what kind of business? Mancity’s payroll last season was USD 304MM. MLS’s payroll last season was roughly USD 600MM. One club in England had a payroll of roughly half MLS’s payroll for 900+ players and 30 teams. Real Madrid’s revenue last season was USD1.4 billion. MLS’s revenue last season was (according to Forbes) USD 2.2-2.4 billion. Real Madrid is fan-owned by 90+k owner-members. And this after 30 years of a monopoly in two of the richest countries on the planet. The delusion that MLS is a 1st Division league needs to be debunked. It isn’t. And it never will be. Because that is exactly how it was structured and is managed. Changing Commissioners is like switching from heroin to methadone.

@aphillip712 @starsnstripesfc Socialist? The closed system, the MLS monopoly, is the height and paradigm of capitalism. Socialist would be fan ownership of the league and clubs.

The NFL (American rugby) cabal controls both organizations. The question isn’t what USSF should do. Both MLS and USSF are structured to avoid reaching that question. At some point, people need to realize that the real FIFA scandal is having supported this subterfuge for 3 straight decades. That every stadium in the USA for WC26 was an NFL stadium was not an accident, much less a coincidence. After 30 years, not one exclusively dedicated MLS stadium qualified to stage WC26. Do you honestly believe that was cosmically ordained? It was planned. A strategy that goes back to 1996 and MLS’s founding.

The USA’s football future has to earn its way to world-class status by going through futsal. instagram.com/reel/DbW8CgvBJ…

Lamentably true. Although the private equity agenda, which has already broken deep into youth football, is now poised to impact the professional level. In a league (MLS), which on its best day by the global standards of excellence for football leagues (i.e., the EPL, the Bundesliga, LaLiga, etc), is a solid 2nd Division league.

Recently, all hell broke loose when Gianni Infantino tried to "package FIFA's assets" and sell them to private equity investors (among whom was Jared Kushner's brother). Now MLS announces a seasoned private equity investor as MLS Commissioner. What is the message here? Particularly, with Don Garber assuming the role of Chairman? Did Garber have a Chairman over his head? No. Garber ran MLS like his own personal feifdom. And ran U.S. Soccer the same way (through his proxies). Is there a split in MLS's owner-operator's ranks? Larry Berg to become next MLS commissioner after owners vote on Garber successor nytimes.com/athletic/74889…

@HenryGiroux A badge of honor.

Pochettino re-signed with the USMNT simply because no top flight club in Europe wanted him. Or wanted him for what he thinks he’s worth. His record in Europe is mediocre at best. He was there 13 years. He won 3 different titles in France with PSG (a feat my grandmother could have pulled off given the quality of the squad). He is third tier there. And 1st tier in the USA. Which says everything about where the USMNT is and will be in 2030. BREAKING: Mauricio Pochettino signs CONTRACT EXTENSION through 2030 Worl... youtu.be/Dhi4iwg0Bms?is… via @YouTube

@Lemonbryz What is the original source of this Klopp quote? Can we be sure this isn’t AI?

Become part of a grassroots football revolution in the USA!!! Support The Football Supporters Trust League (STL)!!! It is time the USA had a true 1st Division football league that meets the global standards of excellence on the field and off, and is open to both women, men and youth operating under the same league and club brands. PLEASE SPREAD TO YOUR NETWORKS!!! Visit STL's GoFundMe: gofund.me/e89d87e65

@slay_jimmy 🙏🏽

@GlbalMadridista FIFA clearly wants a Spain-Argentina final.

@3four3 Not true. American sports rewards losers only, I repeat only, when they are billionaires. All other losers are punished severely.

You will not find a better analysis of the fall of Brazilian football than this: youtu.be/bsWcPeC4nis?si…

@TaylorTwellman That says more about ATL and MLS than it does him.

What makes you think the suffering of people in the USA and globally isn’t a priority? Merely because we are discussing sports ⚽️ in the USA, and how sports are used as a tool of manipulation to reproduce the very system that oppresses them. The point, at least in part, is that all of the major sports leagues in the USA treat fans as consumers, compounding their already existing alienation and using them as tools of profit and wealth accumulation. That is the “sad stuff.”

Building on your point. Around 2012, one the largest private funds in the USA, Providence Equity Partners (PEP), invested USD 150MM for 25% of Soccer United Marketing (SUM). That gave SUM a value of USD 600MM. Importantly, PEP had a choice. They could have invested in MLS, a separate LLC in Delaware but they didn’t. Why? First, because MLS loses money every year (as they have for the past 30 years). Second, and just as importantly, SUM is/was the revenue generating arm of MLS. It makes (made) money. Roughly, 5 or so years later, PEP existed for USD 450MM for a then 20% stake in SUM. 3x on PEP’s original investment and giving SUM a value of USD 1350MM. Now you can understand why U.S. based private equity funds are willing to risk Pro/Rel in Europe instead of investing in MLS. “Smart money” knows that MLS loses money every year and has done so for 30 years. Buy The Football Manifesto on Amazon for the full story. Visit urbanrefugee [dot] com to see the future.