Jack Bell at the New York Times did a Q&A with the Don Garber which touched on a number of issues we're all curious about. Here is an excerpt:

Q: There has been much talk, and much written about the effect the economic downturn will have and is having on sports leagues. For M.L.S., it seems that the economic impact will be on your attempts to work with various municipalities to build new stadiums. You also have seven bids for two new teams that will start play in 2011, with fees set at $40 million per team.

A: The economy will affect us as we look to do whatever we can to weather the storm. We have to be smarter, more efficient. But I go to bed at night knowing our owners are committed.

How will the economy affect us? The obvious answer is sponsorship. Like all leagues, we will be under stress as companies struggle with their marketing expenditures. Soccer United Marketing, which delivers a lot of revenue to our league, will be challenged landing sponsorships for international games. It’s down to the consumer and ticket sales for all leagues will be tough.

On expansion, we had seven bid for two spots all at $40 million, which is $5 million less than our last team sale, Houston. I don’t expect any issues on expansion fees. That is not the key issue for us with expansion anyway — it is getting the right owner and the right facility.

Q: So many of the new stadiums in the league are what you call public/private partnerships. But isn’t that pool of public money even more questionable in these economic times?

A: In the short term, with some buildings under construction, those are not an issue. Kansas City has work to do. But there’s been positive feedback. Portland is a new market that requires additional commitments that probably won’t come till the first part of ’09. Over all, we’ve taken a step back in Houston, and we’ll need to think hard about what will do there. Boston has slowed down. So, yes, these are things effecting all of us. We all need to be smart nibble and creative, we have been through worst of times in 2001, had the best in ’07 and look forward to what will be challenging times.

Q: On the expansion front, after having signed a strategic partnership with Barcelona, it seems like the joint bid for a team in Miami that involved Barcelona is a slam dunk.

A: We’ve got meetings of the expansion committee that will sit down with our board of directors at M.L.S. Cup in Los Angeles. We have had some presentations from the folks there and we’ll try to go through our analysis. I think they have taken it to the next level in Miami and it is a compelling aspect to the whole concept. I’m on my way to Miami this week to tour the stadium and meet with Marcelo Claure.