MLS says it has lost $250 million

Thursday, December 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BOSTON (AP) _ Major League Soccer has lost $250 million and is too much of a financial flop to be a monopoly, its own lawyers said Thursday in closing arguments of the players' antitrust lawsuit against the league.

Standing in front of a huge chart filled with red ink showing the losses incurred since 1995, MLS lawyer Michael Cardozo told the jury that monopoly power would have helped the league make money.

``If MLS is the big, bad monopoly they claim, it's doing a pretty lousy job. The MLS is certainly not laughing all the way to the bank,'' he said. ``MLS is facing severe economic problems. These facts are irrefutable ... evidence that MLS is not acting as a monopolist.''

The class action lawsuit filed by the players in the nation's only Division I soccer league claims MLS is an illegal monopoly designed to depress player salaries. It also accuses the league of conspiring with the U.S. Soccer Federation to create or maintain the monopoly.

``Everything that was said today was wrong, and it ignores the real issues in the case,'' said players' lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, who was scheduled to close on Friday before the case goes to the 11-person jury.

The league maintains it has no monopoly because players could chose to play in other countries, or in minor or indoor leagues in the United States.

``Mr. Kessler told you that (the league) told the players, `Take it or leave it, because there's no place else to go,''' Cardozo told jurors. ``That's a real whopper.''

The players who filed the lawsuit are Iain Fraser, Steve Trittschuh, Sean Bowers, Mark Semioli, Rhett Harty, David Scott Vaudreuil, Mark Dodd and Mark Dougherty.

Cardozo said the 1988 decision by USSF to create only one Division I league in the country has made fans and players better off. The only ones who have suffered, he said, are the owners.

``The decision to certify only one league was a no-brainer, and it would have been suicidal to do anything else,'' he said, citing a ``dismal history of soccer in this country'' and the current lack of quality players, acceptable stadiums and fan interest.

``Why is it that no one else has applied to be a Division I soccer league? It's not because of exclusionary conduct. It's because MLS has lost $250 million, demonstrating that there is not enough demand in the country for two leagues.''

Cardozo also claimed that player salaries have increased since the birth of the MLS in 1996 has helped increased player salaries, giving the eight named plaintiffs increases of 24 to 255 percent. He also showed player contracts of stars such as goalkeeper Jorge Campos, who was entitled to two cars, including a Ferrari.

``MLS must be the most generous monopolist in the world,'' Cardozo said sarcastically. ``It just decided, out of the goodness of its heart, to give that Ferrari to Mr. Campos ... even though it's losing $250 million. They just do that on a whim, a fiscally irresponsible whim.''

But the players argue that they could have made more if the USSF had allowed top-level competition. MLS salaries are far below those in top leagues in Europe, where there is more competition for players but also more interest from fans.

Paul Robbins, who represents the USSF, said the players may have an inflated sense of their value, perhaps because they see their counterparts in other countries and other U.S. sports making so much more.

``It's not basketball money. It's not baseball money. It's not hockey money. It's not NASCAR money. But for soccer in the United States, it is a lot of money,'' he said.

``We're doing the best we can,'' Robbins told the jury. ``You have to give us a chance.''