Interview with CEO and Secretary General of U.S. Soccer Dan Flynn
U.S. Soccer Federation CEO/Secretary General Dan Flynn
Dan Flynn has been CEO/Secretary General of U.S. Soccer for 11 years. While the following of U.S. Soccer, its programs and sanctioned leagues continues to grow yearly, many still don’t know much about the St. Louis, Missouri native. But that’s how Flynn prefers things as he quietly goes about his job of running the day-to-day operations of the governing body of soccer in the U.S.
In a 2006 interview with Soccer America, Flynn said that he prefers that USSF President Sunil Gulati is in the limelight so there is a consistent message coming from the federation. “He (Sunil Gulati) clearly is the spokesperson and provides the vision and the strategy,” Flynn said. Yet talk to anyone who knows the operations of U.S. Soccer and they will tell you Flynn has been vitally important to the organization’s growth and business strategy while working closely with Gulati.
Flynn, a former Anheuser-Busch executive who helped the company though a tremendous period of growth, worked in several areas of that corporation including sports marketing. He also worked on World Cup 1994 and before taking the U.S. Soccer position served as Executive Director of the U.S. Soccer Foundation. However, Flynn’s involvement with the game started much earlier than the 1990s and in a capacity other than executive management. Flynn was a standout player at St. Louis University from 1973 to 1977 and helped his Billikens to an NCAA championship in 1973 and to a runner-up finish in 1974.
Because of Flynn’s strategic decision to allow president Sunil Gulati to be spokesperson for the Federation, it’s rare for him to grant interviews. But IMSoccer News’ reporter Gerry Wittmann, a St. Louis native himself, caught up with Flynn at a recent discussion panel on the history of soccer in St. Louis, an event that was organized for the release of Dave Lange’s wonderful new book, Soccer Made in St. Louis.
In the interview, Flynn spoke to Wittmann about the success of MLS teams in CONCACAF and possibly more important their success on Mexican soil, something he hopes can carry over to the Men’s National Team. He also speaks about US Soccer’s new Men’s National Team coach Jurgen Klinsmann and the U.S. Soccer CEO explains what he expects in the offseason concerning lower level soccer in the sanctioning process for the NASL. Flynn states the federation is meeting with both the USL and the NASL this week.
Gerry Wittmann: MLS teams are doing very well this year in CONCACAF competition. Most teams are either in first or second place in their groups. How meaningful is that to U.S. Soccer in how countries around the world and in the CONCACAF view MLS?
Dan Flynn: I think it’s actually quite important. I think some of the results you are seeing are the result of the league trying to organize their schedule, which is very difficult – where you have some rest periods so teams can be prepared. Some of the travel in Mexico is in altitude. So I think they’ve made a great stride forward through better planning. Not to be negative. It’s just the way the TV schedules and all the other schedules. So I think it’s actually quite meaningful from a technical point of view, from a commercial point of view and from a confidence point of view. We are really encouraged.
GW: FC Dallas was the first team to win on Mexican soil after almost 50 contest between the National Teams and club teams. Then the next week MLS gets another win.
Flynn: Yes, that shows you and we talk about that. We tied in qualifying in ’98 down in Mexico City, when we played Mexico. But we haven’t had any success. I actually think that’s a big threshold for us. Once you do it somehow, mentally, makes it a little easier to do the second time. Hopefully that will carry over on our National Team duty as well.
GW: Our new national team coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, has reached out to the Mexican community to some players who were on the fringes of the national team. He’s brought in Jose Torres and Edgar Castillo in the last couple of games. How do you view that politically or in being inclusive?
Flynn: Inclusive is great but at the end of the day it’s all about the coach picking his team. I’m pretty comfortable in saying he’s not going to select a player unless he thinks he’s capable of playing. That being said I think it’s great that he did reach out. But to be fair Bob, (Bradley) our previous coach reached out as well.
Martin Vasquez, Klinsmann’s assistant, is native Mexican – born there so that obviously says a lot about Jurgen’s view and his commitment to that segment if you will, as well. But at the end of the day you still pick the best lineup and go for a victory.
GW: For the first time in men’s professional soccer this past year we’ve had 3 different and clearly defined tiers with MLS, NASL and USL PRO, with relatively little controversy off the field. Is that the preferred model going into the future?
Flynn: Well, the first preferred model is stability. So hopefully if they can continue that? I’m sure the NASL is operating with less then some of the minimum standards. We’d like to see a minimum of 8 (teams) and would like to see it be 16 or 20. But I think we have to be patient.
We are actually going to talk here next week. We’re going to meet with both the leagues (USL PRO and NASL). We’ll see what their views are moving forward and right now it’s worked well this year. But minor league soccer is challenging. Major League Soccer has its own challenges. I mean all of our sport do. I think we’ve made great strides and I think we have in minor league soccer as well. But there are some unique challenges on the stability front that hopefully we could shore up. We would set ourselves on another step forward if we could do that.
GW: Do you anticipate sanctioning for the division 2 NASL to be as prolonged a process as it was last year’s off season or do you think it will, hopefully, go smoother?
Flynn: I wouldn’t say smoother. I mean we’re meeting with the leagues next week. It’s a board decision and the process and the time frames are in place. We had a lot going on in ’10 with the bid and a lot of other things. That’s no excuse but I think we are probably a little bit further ahead. And their seasons start in April so you’d like to get that decision behind you no later than November. You’d prefer to have it now, right? Just so you can be in markets and moving forward. But they need to get the year under their belt and see what their business model looks like. We’re anxious to talk to them next week and we have a real positive feeling about it right now.
GW: You’ve been with U.S. Soccer for over ten years now. What is the most positive change from your own personal perspective that’s gone on in your tenure?
Flynn: That’s a great question. I would say in a nutshell the development of our players continues to be a real positive. Also, our capacity in this nation to embrace the sport I think also offers tremendous potential. Not just to us, but to our sponsors and to the networks. Ultimately, the networks somewhat define how successful you are. We’ve had a real positive experience with ESPN and we are hoping to build on that. So I could easily say commercial (success). But I’ll sound like I’m just talking about money. But I think the product on the field; as that gets better, it makes for better things for us administrators to try capitalize on.
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“…Flynn’s strategic decision to allow president Sunil Gulati to be spokesperson for the Federation…”
Really? Really? A paid staff employee of the Federation “allowed” Gulati, the highest elected official in the Federation, to be the “spokesperson” for the Federation?
Flynn serves at the pleasure of the Board. Gulati serves as a nominated official of the full membership of the Federation.
If Flynn actually said anything of this sort, he should be sanctioned by the Federation Board. Flynn does not develop policy at the staff level, his directive is to follow the policies mandated by the Board, which includes Gulati.
Flynn is a good guy, I hope he did not imply anything of this nature.
Bart, “allow” was my word but the rest of it pretty much came from the Soccer America article which I have now linked to. I made a minor change to eliminate “allow” but I think you are getting lawyer-like nitpicky here. While I of course I tried to be very accurate being that we are talking about the federation and their CEO, your reaction seems quite strong. Trying to figure out what that’s about?
@BQ – That’s in easy one. Flynn sounded very positive about sanctioning NASL for D2 again next year, so Bart’s tightie whities are all in a bundle now. LOL
In all seriousness though, good article and good questions by Gerry.
Not worried about the NASL sanctioning at all, this is all about organizational structure, and proper protocol. If I were Gulati, and my key staff person was usurping my authority by claiming he was responsible for a strategic decision that involved my activities, I would be a little more than pissed off.
@ Strikers Return, I hate to burst your bubble, but Flynn is a non-voting member of the USSF Board, in fact he cannot vote on any policy, including NASL sanctioning at all. His role is to present the facts and make a recommendation to the board.
Personally, I think sanctioning of a D2 league is a good thing,
“Personally, I think sanctioning of a D2 league is a good thing,” Somebody mark this down! Bart said something, while indirectyl of course, that was actually a positive about the NASL! LOL He or course could only be talking about the NASL, because they are the only league actually pursuing D2 sanctioning on an ongoing basis. Glad to see you’ve some to your senses Bart! I’m not against the USL Pro league at all either. USSF just needs to get with the program of setting up D3 standards like they did for D2. The game in this country only benefits from a clearly defined pyramid and structure that teams and leagues are capable of operating within. THAT is what will eventually end the constant dying off of franchises. Because the levels of the pyramid will contain only those teams that are able to survive there, or they’ll just be empty!
@ Strikers Return
I do like the way you read into things. Having a vivid imagination is what keeps the mind young, and alive.
First off, I gotta give props to the “Kaiser”, Gerry Wittman for scoring this interview. Well done, My Man!
I’m still not convinced that the NASL & USLPRO are going to be able to remain two completely seperate entitites.
Now, if the USSF decided to be flexible with the NASL and Mrs. Downs, Davidson & Traffic can continue to bring in stable ownership groups, then maybe there will not be a need for some of the parties to “kiss & make up”.
In regards to MLS on tv–everytime I hear a sports & entertainment wizard on a sports talk radio show, he always points out how almost nobody watches MLS matches. So kudos to the league for getting the NBC deal done. It could be good for the channel that we currently call “Versus”.
NBC had better drop some coin like the Mouse company and transmit the games in silly high def. I won’t miss MLS on Fox Soccer Channel. A lot of cable provideds (like mine) still are not offering FSC in high def but when the Comcast Sports affiliates shown a match a few days later in high def, it still doesn’t look anywhere nere as good as what the Mouse offers.
Of course, I realize that it is all about revenue/expenses but I dodn’t even like watching games on FSC after being able to see matches in stunning high def. Call me “fickle”… I can live with it. To look like a serious sport, something that people will be more likely to watch–especially when their is already a widely-held attitude that the product is inferior–I think that it is even more important if you are trying to get people’s attention.
@yankiboy – Couldn’t agree more about the lack of HD for FSC, in my case, on Comcast. I mean, come on Comcast, you’re the biggest cable giant in the business right?!? It is absolutely inexcusable to be putting ANY sports channel on the air if it’s not in HD. Give us a break! You make plenty of money off of us poor chumps, get with the program! While you’re at it, GOLTV needs to be in HD too! Didn’t you guys run a story on IMS awhile back about Comcast finally getting FSC in HD? Still haven’t seen it in my lineup……. You’re not fickle for desiring your soccer in HD, you’re an average consumer in today’s marketplace. And you’re right on with saying that a casual sports fan is going to be more likely to give something a try that is in HD over something that is not. Today’s sports fan takes it for granted that top professional sports on tv will be in HD. The company that bought NBC has got to be smarter than this………
@yankiboy
What are you suggesting? That NASL and USL Pro “kiss and make up” because NASL needs USL more than USL needs NASL, or vice versa? There is no promotion/relegation between any league division, so what would be the point?