In an astonishing deal announced today, David Beckham has accepted an offer to play here in the US for MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy for nearly $900,000.00 a week.
Unbelievable.
The numbers being thrown around are astonishing, but they do cloud the real issues brought up by the infusion of Beckham into the MLS.
1.) Will Beckham’s decision influence other European stars to include the MLS in their career plans?
2.) Will Beckham on his own be enough to raise soccer’s profile in the United States?
3.) Has MLS signed it’s own death-warrant; dooming themselves to a NASL-like fate?
To answer the first question, the answer seems to be yes. Word has it that several EPL players, including Edgar Davids and Teddy Sherringham have been in talks about possible transfers to MLS sides. Also rumored to be arriving on these shores are Luis Figo and Ronaldo. All of these players are in the twilight of their careers. What remains to be seen is whether players who would otherwise still be in demand in Europe instead choose a big payday in America. Ex-Arsenal players such as Sol Campbell and Robert Pires both come to mind when thinking of this category. What’s also interesting to think about is whether Freddie Ljungberg would make a move Stateside. He’s 29, has a modeling career, and has recently signed with a Hollywood-based agent. Would the Swedish captain move here with an eye toward life after football?
The truth is, Beckham has already raised soccer/football’s profile in the United States. The announcement of his deal with the Galaxy was reported on ESPN, CNN, FOX News and many other avenues. Problem is, he won’t be playing until August. Eight months. The US is a country afflicted with a national case of attention deficit disorder. Beckham will be lucky to be a line item on the ticker on SportsCenter between now and then. MLS has it’s work cut out for it.
The demise of NASL is well documented. Stars like Pele helped make the league an glamorized retirement home for aging European & South American footballers. Sometimes the play was magical, most of the time it was sub-par. I sincerely hope that MLS has learned from the mistakes of the past, and parlays the latest spike in interest in the sport in this country to ensure for the health of the league, and by extension the US National team, for decades to come.
2 comments ↓
I am a bit surprised at this move. I would think that Becks would rather stay in Europe and play. Sure, he’s going to make more money in LA, but he’s going to find the competition appalling. I bet he doesn’t make it through his 5 year contract and ends up going back to the Premiership with some lower level team like Wigan.
I wish he would stay in bloody Europe, the ones saving grace of his being the only football player that most Americans had ever heard of was the at least he wasn’t in very newscast. Besides that -what a joke- it’s like Iverson going to England to play basketball (another over rated tosser). Hmm but as he said it’s not about the money, some more Hollywood cameos are imminent.
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