By signing international superstar David Beckham for $27.5 million, Major League Soccer is betting that it can finally afford to splurge a little. Since its founding in 1996, MLS has had one of the strictest and lowest player salary caps in pro sports. But deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis, who helped negotiate the contract with Beckham, says that the league has grown enough to open up its wallet.
Gazidis, 42, grew up playing soccer in South Africa, received his law degree from Oxford University, and started his career with the London-based firm of Travers Smith Braithwaite. A secondment in the Los Angeles headquarters of Latham & Watkins — which worked on the 1994 World Cup, the first ever held in the United States — led to an in-house job with MLS. Gazidis says that while he still handles some legal matters, he’s also involved in strategic decisions about the league and its direction. He recently spoke with Corporate Counsel reporter Jill Nawrocki about what it took to negotiate MLS’s biggest deal yet.
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