MLS Commissioner Don Garber was at the Sounders-Impact as part of his West Coast tour on the opening day of the 2013 season. Garber met the media at halftime and was full of praise for the Impact and its president, Joey Saputo.
When asked if he was satisfied with club's progress since joining the league, he answered: "Very, very much so. I don’t think Joey Saputo gets enough credit for what he’s done as a first-year team in Major League Soccer. They built a terrific building, they’ve got a good, strong brand, their team is competitive."
And the MLS commissioner even let the journalists know why he really was at the CenturyLink Field.
One of the reasons I came to this game [Seattle-Montreal] was not just to see the 45,000-odd people, but to pay my respects to Joey Saputo," said Garber at halftime, a few minutes after captain Davy Arnaud had opened the scoring in Seattle. "He’s very, very focused, not just on the game, but he’s also focused on having a strong stable business and building his fanbase."
