Page 20 - ARUBA TODAY

A20 SPORTS
Thursday 7 November 2019

MLS been a resounding suc-

cess, both in the quality of
the games and for televi-
Continued from Page 17 more unified and more will- sion ratings.
ing to walk out than in 2015 The playoffs will be capped
"You know, those conver- when a strike was averted by a sold-out final Sunday.
sations are ongoing and by just a couple of days. More than 69,000 specta-
they've been productive. Players want to see anoth- tors are expected, which
As the league continues to er bump in salary. would be the second-larg-
grow, more opportunity ex- They want more free agen- est crowd for an MLS final.
ists for everyone and more cy and increased choice in "We're excited about it be-
issues exist that we have to where they play. cause our fans are excited
manage as the league de- They also want the ardu- about it," Garber said.
velops." ous travel of a long season "They really believe in this
MLS will celebrate the con- eased by more charter idea of every player needs
clusion of its 24th season flights allocated for teams. to put it all out on the field
Sunday when the Seattle Those are just some of a in every single game be-
Sounders host Toronto FC in long list of issues for the Seattle Sounders celebrate after defeating Los Angeles FC 3-1 cause if you don't win, you
the league championship sides to work through. during the MLS soccer Western Conference final, Tuesday, Oct. go home."
game. "It would be inconceivable 29, 2019, in Los Angeles. — With Sacramento and St.
It's been a banner year for to think we would be nego- Associated Press Louis already announced,
the league on the field with tiating about charter travel cation Money as an exam- strike and advised them to the league plans one more
the debut of FC Cincinnati, in our last agreement or the ple, something that wasn't start putting money aside expansion club to bring the
the announcement of St. one prior to that, because even part of our discussions in the event of a work stop- league's total to 30 teams.
Louis and Sacramento as it wasn't something that in our last agreement. I look page. Garber said that does not
the latest expansion fran- anybody thought could at momentum and success Garber said he doesn't see need to be announced
chises to come on board ever be contemplated and as creating opportunity for those moves as ominous before the end of the year,
starting in 2022 and a daz- here we are. It's a subject all and at the same time signs of what is to come. but the 30th team would
zling MVP season from that will be an element of representing ownership "Nothing has changed in likely start in 2022 with the
LAFC's Carlos Vela that re- bargaining," Garber said. and reaching an agree- my mind," he said. other two expansion clubs.
wrote the record book. "We have all sorts of new ment that is fiscally respon- Garber touched on several While Phoenix and Las Ve-
Carrying that momentum approaches to how we're sible." other topics. gas have been mentioned
into 2020 and beyond will going about signing our The MLS Players' Union has — Garber said the move to as potential options, Char-
require a labor agreement players and managing our established a fund to help a single-game format for lotte appears to be the
with players who appear rosters with Targeted Allo- players should there be a the MLS Cup playoffs has leader.q