Don Garber has signed a new five-year extension to stay on as commissioner of Major League Soccer through to the end of 2018.
The 56-year-old, who confirmed the agreement to Sports Illustrated, will have served 20 years at the helm by the end of his contract. Garber has been credited with leading the league through a major phase of development and expansion.
“It’s the first five-year deal I’ve signed in 15 years. Every other deal was a three-year deal,” Garber said. “I had always been of the mind that you sign three-year deals so you can give everybody the flexibility to determine what you want to do. The league was younger and less mature. Now we’re teeing up a long-term commitment to each other.”
Garber said that he signed the new contract in January. “At some point in year three or four I’ll sit down and determine whether I go beyond 20 years, but 20 years is a long time to do any one job,” he added. Garber plans for the league to expand to 24 teams by 2020 and become one of the leading football leagues in the world by 2022.
