NASHVILLE — Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber was having a moment.
On a sunny morning in mid-July, Garber arrived in Nashville to meet with politicians, business leaders and sports executives eager to bring an M.L.S. team to the city. The two-day fact-finding mission was part of a 12-city tour being conducted by Garber and his deputy, Mark Abbott, to determine which of the dozen cities will be chosen as home to the two expansion teams M.L.S. plans to approve this year.
Already Garber had been greeted by a marching band in Cincinnati and by fans waving giant cardboard cutouts of his face in Sacramento.