On the surface, the idea sounded like business lunacy. The San Diego Sockers decided to pay U.S. star Landon Donovan an unprecedented $250,000 to play in an indoor soccer league dancing along the fringes of its own sport.

Instead of becoming paralyzed by why such an odd-ball idea would not work, Chief Marketing Officer Craig Elsten decided to focus on why it could.

Why it would.

Elsten trampled skepticism and doubt and dollars-and-sense hesitance about the unmatched Major Arena Soccer League payday. He simply aimed pencil to paper, brushed away the eraser shavings and let raw numbers do the talking.


The result: The Sockers easily own the best record in the 17-team MASL, have produced a 20-game winning streak, and with the final regular-season game against Monterrey set for 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Pechanga Arena, Donovan’s deal already has paid for itself.

“Probably my favorite saying in life is a (self-made billionaire) Richard Branson quote, ‘The brave may not live forever, but the cautious don’t live at all,’ ” Donovan said. “If you think about life, why not try something different and try something exciting and try something fun?

“You can do the status quo, sort of ho-hum, but why not try something different. Look at the Padres. They said, let’s just go spend real money and try to bring in a player (like Manny Machado). And now the town is excited about it.

“I give the Sockers a ton of credit, and Craig especially, for thinking outside the box and taking a chance.”


The Sockers expected the on-field production. Donovan, a six-time winner of the MLS Cup who has scored the most goals in U.S. World Cup history, has registered a point in every match he’s played this season.

The box-office puzzle posed the most intriguing question mark.

Before signing Donovan, the team averaged 2,640 per game. They needed to add roughly 1,500 more fans the rest of the way to break even. Heading into the Saturday finale, with a projected crowd of more than 6,000, the Sockers are averaging 5,370 with the U.S. star.

“We’re crushing that,” Elsten said of the attendance target. “We’re destroying it.”


The financial gamble has reaped dividends in other ways. Elsten characterized the value of “earned media dollars” from the day Donovan signed to his debut at about $375,000. That factors in what someone would be required to pay to earn that many eyeballs.

Between increased website traffic and additional broadcast coverage in that stretch, Elsten said the team realized 3.3 million Sockers-related views.

“It raised our awareness in the market exponentially,” he said.

The Sockers’ success — they’re tied with Milwaukee as the highest scoring team in the league, with a 22-1 record and ridiculous plus-92 goal differential — came about because of a rethink and rebound by Donovan.


The most accomplished American player in history was bruised by a run with Club Leon of Liga MX that ended after four months in June 2018. Few would blame him for fading to the competitive background and cashing in on other business opportunities.

Donovan, though, fits comfortably into his well-traveled skin. Legacy seems less a driving force than stretching boundaries and seeing where less-traveled roads lead.

“You’ve got to take a chance sometimes,” he said. “Sometimes you fall on your face and that’s OK. I took a chance in Leon. I wouldn’t say I fell on my face, but it didn’t go the way I wanted in Mexico.

“You take chances and you do things you think are going to be fun and exciting and make you happy. More often than not, things work out.”


The signing of Donovan also changed the landscape of an entire league.

Shortly after Donovan signed with the Sockers and Tacoma landed former Seattle Sounders FC star Lamar Neagle, Ontario sewed up former U.S. international team member and MLS standout Jermaine Jones. Kansas City signed Kevin Ellis. Dallas picked up Michel Garbini Pereira. Mississauga scooped up Dwayne De Rosario.

How did Donovan change things?

“Completely,” Elsten said. “Fundamentally.”


In the playoffs, the Sockers will face either Tacoma or Ontario in Game 1 of the division finals April 19. The return game in the best-of-three, and possibly mini-game tiebreaker, will be a day later at Pechanga Arena.

Donovan is nursing a cranky hamstring, but said it’s improved and expects to be in game condition Saturday.

From there? Next season?

“We’ve talked about it,” Donovan said. “I’m certainly interested in it. I hope the Sockers are. There are a few other things going on that I need to make sure aren’t an issue, because it’s obviously a big time commitment.


“We’ll see what happens. I’m open to it. Let’s hope it works out.”

The Sockers gambled on Donovan — and it worked.

Maybe San Diego is starting to buy into this bold moves stuff, after all.