Doug Logan

Doug Logan
Commissioner of Major League Soccer
In office 1996–1999
Preceded by	First
Succeeded by	Don Garber

Douglas G. Logan was the Chief Executive Officer of USA Track & Field, the national governing body for track and field, long distance running and race walking from 2008 to 2010. As CEO, Logan led the USATF paid staff, and worked with USATF's elected President to promote the sport.

Logan was hired by USATF after a nation-wide search, and raised $10 million in sponsorships, but was criticized for not being more successful in fundraising and for fractured relationships within the sport. On September 13, 2010, the USATF Board announced it had terminated Logan. Logan sued USATF over the termination. The case is currently in settlement talks.

Previously employed in his family’s business field of heavy construction and geotechnical engineering, Logan moved to the sports and entertainment industry when he re-evaluated his career goals in the late 1970s. Moving forward, he was determined “to earn a living from those things that I was most passionate about — music and sports.”^{[citation needed]}

Logan was named the first commissioner of Major League Soccer, serving in that capacity from the inauguration of the league in 1995 to 1999. He led the league through a record-breaking premier season, averaging over 17,000 fans per match. Sports Business Daily named Logan and the MLS staff Sports Industrialists of the Year for 1996.^{[citation needed]} During Logan's last year at MLS, the league lost $34 million.^[1] MLS was reported to have lost $250 million in its first five years under Logan.^[2]

Logan formed Empresario, LLC in 1999, a sports consulting and entrepreneurial firm serving diverse clients in North America, Central America, South America and Spain. In 2001, he was brought in as a consultant in the creation of a professional National Rugby League, much in the same vein as MLS, structuring the new league as a "single entity" system. Logan also serves as Chairman and CEO of Face_iT Technologies, Inc., a company devoted to exploiting innovative facial animation technologies for the film and gaming industries.^{[citation needed]}

Logan was the promoter of the first commercial Arena Football League game in April, 1985. He was a founder, regent and lecturer at the Public Assembly Facility Management School (PAFMS) in Oglebay, West Virginia.^{[citation needed]} From 1993 until 1995 Logan served as Director General of OCESA, SA, the largest concert promotion company in Mexico. He was Senior Vice President of Ogden Entertainment Services from 1985 to 1993 and General Manager of the Rockford MetroCentre from 1979 to 1985. He is a former Vice President of the US Soccer Federation and a former District Vice President of the International Association of Assembly Managers (IAAM). In July, 2008, the IAAM honored Logan with its Presidential Citation, which recognizes the extraordinary contributions of individuals who have brought great distinction to that industry.^[3]

Having been born in Cuba before moving as a child to the United States, and raised in a bilingual, multicultural family, Logan spoke Spanish as his first language. He fought with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam, where he was decorated with two Bronze Stars.^{[citation needed]} Logan drove a taxicab in New York City for three years^{[citation needed]} and began his career in the entertainment business as a beer vendor in Yankee Stadium while attending Manhattan College.

A lifelong competitive road runner at distances from 10 km to the marathon, Logan has clocked a marathon personal best under 4 hours.^[3]

References

1. ^ See Don Garber
2. ^ Eligon, John (November 11, 2005). "For M.L.S., the Sport's Future Is in the Eye of the Beholder". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/11/sports/soccer/11soccer.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
3. ^ ^{a b} USATF press release Retrieved 2008-11-17.

Preceded by Inaugural

Commissioner of Major League Soccer 1996–1999

Succeeded by Don Garber

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Name	Logan, Doug
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