What Does David Beckham mean to MLS?
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by Ea34
On July 1, David Beckham ’s five-year, megabucks contract with Major League Soccer ’s Los Angeles Galaxy officially took effect. In the wake of this, it may be appropriate to examine the impact that Beckham’s signing has had on Major League Soccer thus far, and its impact going forward. Beckham, whose game is still in world-class form, recently capped his 4-year run with Spanish football giants Real Madrid with a league championship. So good was his play down the stretch of the Spanish season in fact, that Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon expressed his desire to purchase Beckham’s contract back from the Galaxy, an offer which was quickly rejected by the American club.
In becoming the highest profile European player to make the leap to MLS, Beckham has committed not only to playing midfield for the Galaxy, but to becoming the face of the world's most popular sport, in a media crazed country that has long been reluctant to adopt soccer. Beckham will try to carry on and further the work of Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, whose time with the New York Cosmos in the late-1970's and early 1980's sparked America's first short-lived love affair with soccer. Any phenomenon that gains traction in America only does so when it has a superstar flag bearer.
When we look back on the history of boxing, we reflect on Ali, Louis and Dempsey. The NBA was a floundering league until it was rescued by the emergence of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan in the 1980's. Sports fans in the United States love spectacle and pageantry, all of which football can deliver. But we love superstars even more, and that is what MLS acquired in the person of David Beckham, one of the most recognizable celebrities on the planet, not to mention a gifted footballer who, at age 31, still has years of world-class play ahead of him.
Given the financial magnitude of his contract, it is inevitable that expectations for David Beckham's performance will take on a life of their own. Before we go down this path and lock him into the ultimate no win situation, it’s important to understand that this contract is about far more than one team signing one player. In making this commitment to David Beckham, Major League Soccer made a commitment to itself- a commitment to joining the world’s top-tier of soccer leagues. In the aftermath of expansion (3 new teams), new ownership (6 new owners), new distribution (4 long-term TV deals) and new venues (4 soccer-only stadiums), the league has organically built the foundation on which the future of world soccer in America will rest. With all this in place, David Beckham has the two qualities that MLS and soccer needs most right now: credibility and star power. SUPERstar power.
Perhaps other than Beckham himself, the biggest beneficiaries of this deal are ALL THE OTHER PLAYERS IN MLS. While millions tune in to see Beckham, his teammates and opponents will have the opportunity to display their talents on a global stage. While it may be on a relatively small scale, for the first time in its history, MLS will occupy a place in consciousness of soccer fans across the world. Beckham's massive contract also serves to deliver a very powerful message from MLS to the global soccer community: We may not yet have the history or the homegrown stars of the traditional footballing powers, but we have money. Lots of money! And we are now willing to spend it on superstar footballers. You think any other superstars out there willing to play in MLS for eight figures a year? Yeah, me too. But in order for Major League Soccer to become a significant player in international club soccer, it must be wary of the mistakes of its predecessors and work to steer clear of repeating them.
