Abbott is a Distinguished Executive-in-Residence at Georgetown, where he teaches and works on projects for the president’s office. After practicing corporate law at Latham and Watkins, he joined Major League Soccer (MLS) as its first employee in 1993 and was the architect of its original business plan.

Abbott served as the president and deputy commissioner of MLS until 2022 and during his time with the league, it grew from 10 Clubs in 1996 to 30 in 2025 while average club valuations increased from $5 million to over $700 million today. In 2025, he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Abbott earned a law degree in 1989 from Berkeley Law School at the University of California, where he was the managing editor of the California Law Review, and is a 1986 graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.