MLS Commissioner Comments on Yankees' Empty Seats, Yankees President Bites Back

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber mentioned the empty seats he spotted at the New York Yankees' brand new ballpark recently. His comment did not go unnoticed, and just one day after making the remark, Yankee's president Randy Levine shot back some testy remarks of his own.

"Don Garber discussing Yankee attendance must be a joke," Levine said Friday. "We draw more people in a year than his entire league does in a year. If he ever gets Major League Soccer into the same time zone as the Yankees, we might take him seriously.

"Hey Don, worry about Beckham, not the Yankees. Even he wants out of your league," said Levine.

(David Beckham is on loan from the MLS's Los Angeles Galaxy to AC Milan through the end of the Italian Serie A season).

Garber had mentioned last Thursday while speaking with the press that he noticed unfilled seats at New York's two new stadiums. FOr the five games following their home opener, the Yankees premium seats were more than half empty. He said:

"It's incomprehensible that you watch a game, and there will be front-row seats empty."

Told this week of Levine's comments, Garber explained himself:

"When I mentioned the New York Yankees yesterday, my comments were part of a larger assertion that all businesses — even the most successful sports entities — are experiencing some impact from the economic downturn."

"The Yankees are one of the world's strongest sports brands and the context of my comments about a few empty seats at Yankee Stadium was to illustrate the economic challenges we are all facing."

In their final season last year at the old Yankee Stadium, the Yankees averaged 53,070 in attendance, for a total of 4.3 million. The MLS as a whole averaged 16,460 for 210 regular season games last year, for a total of 3.46 million.