Mark Abbott / President, Major League Soccer
The architect of Major League Soccer’s business plan, Mark Abbott was named President of Major League Soccer on March 8, 2006. Abbott oversees all business operations for MLS and Soccer United Marketing. His responsibilities include supervising the broadcasting, legal and finance departments at the MLS League office. Along with MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Abbott is the league’s primary contact in discussions with potential investors and expansion cities.
The League headquarters’ primary liaison to the MLS Board of Governors, Abbott has been involved with Major League Soccer since its inception. Abbott was the first MLS employee in 1993 and the principal author of the league’s business plan, ultimately approved by FIFA as a legacy of World Cup USA 1994, the most successful World Cup in history.
Abbott played a primary role in creating the League’s structure and negotiating with the initial investor-operator group. He was named to Sports Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 in both 2001 and 2002.
Prior to joining MLS, Abbott practiced law as an associate of MLS Founder Alan I. Rothenberg with Latham & Watkins, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and commercial law.
Abbott earned his law degree in 1989 from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, Abbott was the Managing Editor of the California Law Review. Abbott is a 1986 graduate of Georgetown University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Foreign Service degree in international economics, cum laude, and an honors certificate in international business diplomacy.
Born August 20, 1964 in Wigston, England, Abbott resides in Greenwich, Connecticut with his wife and two children.