Goal: Q. and A.: N.A.S.L. Commissioner David Downs

MIAMI — The entrance to the office of the North American Soccer League’s commissioner is adorned with the jerseys of the league’s eight teams, which are arranged on hangers that can be moved as the standings change. The league’s six-team playoffs started Saturday.David Downs, known as a strategic thinker and a practical manager, was named commissioner of the N.A.S.L. by Traffic, a Brazilian company that owns three teams — Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta and Carolina — in the league. After heading the unsuccessful United States bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, Downs moved from Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., to Miami and became the N.A.S.L. commissioner on April 1. An Arsenal and Boston Red Sox fan, Downs worked at ABC Sports from 1978-99 and then moved to Univision, where he negotiated with FIFA for the Spanish-language rights in North America to the 2002-14 World Cups.The N.A.S.L. is reaching back to its predecessor, the archetypal soccer league in North America of the same name, in many team’s names and branding. Last year, the league was certified by the U.S. Soccer Federation and operated as the U.S.S.F. D2. The N.A.S.L.’s teams averaged 3,756 fans per match this season; three of its clubs are outside the U.S., including the Montreal Impact. That club had the largest average attendance (11,507 a game), but will become Major League Soccer’s 19th team in 2012.With threats of litigation behind it, the N.A.S.L. expects San Antonio and Ottawa to join the league in 2012 and 2013, and anticipates a possible return of a team in Baltimore. For now, <a href="http://www.dutyfreecigarettes-discount.com/"><strong>buying cigarettes online</strong></a> Fort Lauderdale, Edmonton, Tampa Bay and NSC Minnesota start the postseason, and two of those will move on to play the Carolina Railhawks and the Puerto Rico Islanders, the champions last year — in the league semifinals. What are your biggest challenges? To establish credibility in the minds of fans, [offering] a compelling sports product. We’ve done a pretty good job getting people across America to embrace the notion of coming out to see second division soccer. We’ve been modestly successful, with about 4,000 fans a game. It pleasantly surprised some people, but it needs to go up for our clubs to be successful financially. I would say it’s more of an opportunity than a challenge.In the U.S., nine of the top 25 markets don’t have any [pro] soccer at all. These are markets that could or would support soccer. M.L.S. is at the short-term limits of its capacity. There’s talk. Long term, it seems logical there’s opportunity to expand to some really attractive markets. San Diego, Sacramento, Phoenix, Cincinnati. Many places with populations in excess of two million. Our league conceivably could have 10 teams by 2013 or 12 by 2014, and maybe 20 long term. You have two teams in Canada and the defending champion is in Puerto Rico. What kind of effect does that have? The N.A.S.L. and M.L.S. represent the highest-level soccer in person that you can see in that market if you want to see pro soccer. Yet we all know in the U.S. today there are three 24/7 soccer TV networks. There is no way, sitting here, I or [M.L.S. Commissioner Don] Garber can convince the fan the quality of play is better than Champions League. Watch those games [from Europe], but if you want a stadium experience, it’s a different animal.The sea change in the last two generations is you can be a global soccer fan when you stop playing the sport in the U.S. You used to get out of college and there was no soccer on TV, or in the media, and the Internet didn’t exist. Now you have pro leagues, you can play in adult leagues. That allows you to be a better fan. The U.S. is making better fans, they’re going to want to attend it in person as well.The Islanders are a unique asset because they are, in a way, the national team of Puerto Rico.The [dispersed geography and] travel costs are a red herring. Air travel costs in America are more about the route than the length of the route. The difference in travel costs between Edmonton or Atlanta is not even five percent. We would never do a geographic alignment and become a bus league. You were recently in M.L.S. offices. What is that relationship like? I met with the U.S. Soccer Federation. M.L.S. loaned us a boardroom. I gave a presentation to [federation president] Sunil [Gulati] and [federation general secretary] Dan Flynn. It would be smart to have cooperation with M.L.S. on many fronts as possible. For example, our players are loaned to M.L.S. teams like Toronto and Dallas.We instituted a concussion policy modeled after M.L.S.. We’re trying to work together at every level. We would be jointly sharing the of developing future pros, and we don’t leave that entirely [to M.L.S.]. With Don Garber, S.U.M. [the league's marketing unit, Soccer United Marketing] and [M.L.S. president] Mark Abbott there are plenty of channels of communication.If you look at our niche and their niche, our league is complementary and not competitive. That’s not just where <a href="http://www.fendibyfendi-discount.com/burberry-2010-burberry-handbags-c-43_44.html"><strong>discount burberry handbags</strong></a> we sit today; that’s our long-range vision. In my wildest dreams I see us operating such a successful Division 2 that there’s a public clamor for promotion and relegation.We are both in the business of developing players. The biggest gap is between the youth development academy system and M.L.S.. The ability to patch those gaps has to concern U.S. Soccer. It doesn’t appear college soccer is the best solution to producing capable pro [players].There is no promotion and relegation. I can’t envision an M.L.S. that could easily cope with one of the biggest-market teams going down and small-market team going up. The single biggest impediment is the American sports business model. Whether it’s TV, stadiums … it would not be easily sustainable. There are checks and balances in Europe and Latin America that prevent the biggest and richest clubs from going down. The big exception was what happened in Argentina with River Plate and its relegation. As a soccer fan, I would love to see it. How great would it be for the Carolina Railhawks if they had one more game and they were to move up. There are some benefits from sports perspective, from the business standpoint [it is more difficult]. What about losing your teams to the M.L.S.? We’re proud that Montreal is going to M.L.S. next year. They’re a great bunch. The people, fans, the infrastructure, all is first class. I wish them success. We’re proud that so many of [our former] teams are among the M.L.S.’ most successful teams. Portland is doing well in all respects. Another thing we can provide to the soccer landscape is a grooming ground. Being successful at the D2 level is good indicator.We’re quite comfortable with that. We’ve loved having them in our league. In the future, maybe an exit fee is possible. What are the N.A.S.L. fans’ concerns? I wander the stadiums and ask questions of the fans. Why they’re there and if they’re happy with what they see. The single biggest complaint from fans is perception that the players’ athleticism and skill has grown faster than the officials. An important benefit is a place for refs to ply their trade and get better. Traffic is a big investor in this league. Can you tell us what that’s about. Without a doubt, a goal of our league is to have Traffic — who have made a considerable investment in South Florida with the Strikers, and partial ownership of Atlanta and Carolina — to divest and go back down to one team. We’re fortunate that a global sports agency based in a country that loves <a href="http://www.fendibyfendi-discount.com/"><strong>cheap fendi</strong></a> the sport [Brazil] is investing in the league. We would love the extent of the investment to be less, to make us viable. In the long term, that will pay off for them. We’re thankful for them, because if we weren’t there we could have some troubles. What will the failed World Cup bids for 2018 and 2022 do for the sport? It was a personal and professional disappointment. I think the U.S. would have been an even more fertile place for soccer to grow the next decade if we knew we were hosting a World Cup 10 years down the road. The U.S. will continue to grow as a place where soccer continues to [thrive]. It just won’t grow quite as fast with the World Cup on the horizon. It’s not a catastrophic event that will cause growth to become the opposite. It’s about pace and scale of growth. You’re a former TV executive. The N.A.S.L. is not on a TV network. How come? This year we chose to stream games on the Web. We felt that was an intelligent approach. Given my TV background if we needed to knock on doors it certainly wouldn’t be a problem. There haven’t been any decisions. There’s enough interest to justify a limited national TV package. What happened in St. Louis? A soccer hotbed gained and lost a team in one season. St. Louis is a terrific soccer market, a market that deserves pro soccer. We would love to expand there with the N.A.S.L. At the moment, they don’t seem to have a qualified ownership group. Not just anybody can own a club in D2, without having a significant net worth. There are performance bonds, financial liability. St. Louis doesn’t have such a candidate now.Keyvan Antonio Heydari covers international soccer. He can be followed on Twitter at keyvan9.