Mark Abbott

Mark Abbott is currently a distinguished executive-in-residence at Georgetown University. He was previously president and deputy commissioner of Major League Soccer (MLS), where he worked for 30 years. Abbott led and managed all areas of League operations and competition, including product strategy, player relations and communications, together with all League expansion, legal, finance and labor functions. Abbott played a key role in the launch of MLS in 1996: as employee #1 at MLS, Mark served as the senior vice president of business affairs and wrote the original business plan for the League. He was promoted to COO in 1997 and became president in 2006.