Beckham is Coming.....

[VPjr]

it looks like the MLS knew what they were doing when they dubbed it the "Beckham rule".

I don't know how much of an impact he will have on the quality of MLS football but he is still young enough to have some impact.

I'll be curious to see him up close when the Galaxy play TFC

[Jarrek]

Confirmed.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/01/11/beckham.mls/index.html

[Calgary Boomer]

Maybe not as big as Pele, but a HUGE coup for MLS. He's a cultural icon...something more important to the American folks than his playing ability.

[shaku_bert]

At $250M over five years, I think the MLS is nuts. It will go the same route as NASL.

Start the death knell for MLS........

[Calgary Boomer]

I disagree. That's the best 250 million the league will ever spend.

[argh1]

Well to be the constant "Devils Advocate":
250 MILLION or 50 MILL per year where the average players makes maybe 40 Grand/year. Looks like a desperate step? I hope I'm wrong ...but...
ahhhhh......I dunno.......
High cost stars did in the NASL......I'm nervous....

[shaku_bert]

argh1, take your argument past the potential jealousy that teammates and competitors will feel.

How on earth can $50M be recouped? There is just no economics behind this. Maybe you'll get a couple million more in TV rights. Will league-wide attendances jump by 500,000 paid tickets? I doubt that. will MLS now be considered a serious league to compete with upper echelon Euro leagues? No freaking way. will all Beckham's image rights go to the league? I doubt that but even if they did, US sponsorship will not be huge and his Euro contracts will dry up as he his out of sight and out of mind.

I hope the $250M is just speculation.

[Calgary Boomer]

Hey you're right argh1...it's a HUGE risk for a 31 year old player. But MLS needs that kind of a risk to reach the next level, and everyone in the league, not just LA will benefit.

The NASL went through a flood of overseas signings after Pele came over. The COSMOS were responsible for the league's collapse because no-one else could compete with them financially or competitively.

Remember too...the NASL's foreign to domestic player quotient was entirely opposite of MLS. In the old days, the majority were from overseas, with a few North Americans sprinkled in. I never see that happening here again.

[I Caramba]

I dunno about the exact numbers.
But when Beckham moved to Real Madrid, the story was that they made more profit, in the first year, from shirts with Beckham 23 on the back, than his original transfer fee.
$250M is a heck of a lot of shirts though.

Beckham will be treated like royalty, and given a lot of respect on the pitch. Fewer injuries, just run, put in great crosses, and take free kicks. A good free kick is, what, 6 seconds of TV clip? He will be on the TV news regularly and that will be great for "soccer" on this continent.

-Favourite Beckham off-field moments:
-The Beckhams, and George Best interviewed together by Parkinson.
-The out takes at the end of "Bend it Like Beckham" -Feeling hot, hot, hot...........
and by the way
- Why does everyone always say David Beckham is thick? You never hear people saying "Oh that Steven Hawking, he's so sh*t at football." Once again it's a case of one rule for footballers, and another for theoretical physicists.

[Cheeta]

More importantly who's paying this salary if all this turns out to be real?

Is this strictly a Galaxy show or is it a league initiative? Will MLS be ponying up some money for the David Beckham Circus?

Honestly it does generate a lot of media attention but in a year a lot of people will be doing a Freddy Who.

Asking what all the fuss was about. $50M? For that? See how long the media darling lasts after that.

[Ivan]

From Big Soccer,

MLS pays $400,000/yr
Galaxy (AEG) pay $9 million/yr
Beckham retains marketing rights valued at $44 million/yr.

[shaku_bert]

quote:Originally posted by Ivan

From Big Soccer,

MLS pays $400,000/yr
Galaxy (AEG) pay $9 million/yr
Beckham retains marketing rights valued at $44 million/yr.


OK, that makes a bit of sense (but why his mktg rights be reported as part of his package - is it somehow guarenteed?).

Any hoo, I'm not convinced his mktg rights are worth $44M. Who would have been the best marketed athelete in the states? Probably Jordan. I bet he wasn't getting $44M for his mktg rights. And B-ball is a sport that means something in the hearts of Americans. Soccer doesn't. I can't see people in the far east buying up Beckham Galaxy jerseys the same way they did Real Madrid shirts (Madrid is a just a bit higher profile).

[jonovision]

Isn't Toronto's season opener against LA? Does that mean they will be Beckham's first MLS opponent?

[Ryan Keay]

quote:Originally posted by jonovision

Isn't Toronto's season opener against LA? Does that mean they will be Beckham's first MLS opponent?


In LA against Chivas.. Beckham is only coming after his contract expires though.

http://www.embargo.ca/ultras/news/realnews/20070111-1.html

[Ed]

Posh in Hollywood will generate more interest in the MLS than 1,000 Adu's. This is a great coup for MLS.

[VPjr]

The way I see it, if he is able to generate enough marketing revenue to earn that extra $40+ million per year, then the benefit to the league would be huge because the most prominent player in the league would have his name and/or likeness plastered everywhere in the world.

While I don't like such a huge pay disparity in the league, my hope is that, in time, the attention surrounding Beckham being in MLS will help the young guys making $30-$40K a year get a boost in pay to the $80K or $100K / year range (or more). It will be very good for the league if young players feel that they can actually make a good living playing in the MLS. From what I have seen in my research on MLS payrolls, some young guys are getting absolutely exploited and the bulk of them are getting less than a kicker in the CFL. While I know some people would give their left nut to play pro soccer, you still need to pay your bills.

[VPjr]

Quote I just read on ESPN.com

"I have decided to join the Los Angeles Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year."

So I guess he will be staying at Madrid until the end of the La Liga season and join the Galaxy at mid-season.

[Richard]

Fans call Toronto FC for 'Beckham tickets'

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/news_story/?ID=191802&hubname=soccer

Didn't take long.

[georg]

Yallop is going to have some tough decision:)).....

[Loud Mouth Soup]

News made the Guardian (with regards to the effect the signing had on Toronto FC), with quotes from Anselmi.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6338899,00.html

[Richard]

Can only be good for the game in north America.

[marktci]

Toronto FC is capitalizing (from an e-mail they sent out):

Though the schedule has not been released, it has been confirmed that the Galaxy will play in Toronto later in the season, giving our fans the chance to watch Beckham live!

We sold over 200 season tickets in the first few hours of this announcement.

Spread the word - tickets can be purchased right here or by calling 416-360-GOAL.
GOAL line hours have been extended to accommodate the increase in season seat sales.

[marktci]

quote:Originally posted by marktci

Toronto FC is capitalizing (from an e-mail they sent out):

Though the schedule has not been released, it has been confirmed that the Galaxy will play in Toronto later in the season, giving our fans the chance to watch Beckham live!

We sold over 200 season tickets in the first few hours of this announcement.

Spread the word - tickets can be purchased right here or by calling 416-360-GOAL.
GOAL line hours have been extended to accommodate the increase in season seat sales.

[Gordon]

An article that does a pretty good job of explaining the economics of the deal:

Link (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2007-01-11T201640Z_01_N11435289_RTRUKOT_0_TEXT0.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2)

(url looks a little wiggy, hope it works)

[Jeffery S.]

90% of this discussion should be in the General section.

But I'll go along for the ride. Had to laugh tonight as El Larguero, Spain's most important sport program (radio at midnight daily on Cadena Ser) spent all of 5 minutes on the story, cut off the clip of his press statement, went immediately on to more important things. As far as they were concerned it was as important as Figo signing for wherever-club in wherever-land. Not.

Breakdown I heard was a 10 million euro salary, he retaining his rights on all endorsements, not shared with club, for a total of almost 20 million, a percentage of LA Galaxy earnings, then some other little things in there.

Agree it is totally obscene that he could be playing beside guys making 25,000 US a year.

[dbailey62]

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

90% of this discussion should be in the General section.


I disagree. This short and long term ramifications of this deal will have a direct impact on the future of MLS and TFC.

It fits appropriately into the Canadian Leagues and Clubs section.

db

[MM2]

quote:Originally posted by marktci

Toronto FC is capitalizing (from an e-mail they sent out):

Though the schedule has not been released, it has been confirmed that the Galaxy will play in Toronto later in the season, giving our fans the chance to watch Beckham live!

We sold over 200 season tickets in the first few hours of this announcement.

Spread the word - tickets can be purchased right here or by calling 416-360-GOAL.
GOAL line hours have been extended to accommodate the increase in season seat sales.



DC United sent out the IDENTICAL E-mail to their supporters. Also stating that 200 season tickets had been sold, and substituting Soehn for Johnston with the exact same quote. Including the part about seeing Beckham later in the season

[Cheeta]

quote:Originally posted by I Caramba

Why does everyone always say David Beckham is thick?


Oh, I wouldn't say everyone.

I would just say it's just those who have ever heard him speak or try to express something resembling "a thought".

[Cheeta]

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

90% of this discussion should be in the General section.

But I'll go along for the ride. Had to laugh tonight as El Larguero, Spain's most important sport program (radio at midnight daily on Cadena Ser) spent all of 5 minutes on the story, cut off the clip of his press statement, went immediately on to more important things. As far as they were concerned it was as important as Figo signing for wherever-club in wherever-land. Not.

Breakdown I heard was a 10 million euro salary, he retaining his rights on all endorsements, not shared with club, for a total of almost 20 million, a percentage of LA Galaxy earnings, then some other little things in there.

Agree it is totally obscene that he could be playing beside guys making 25,000 US a year.




As to the 1st part, I couldn't disagree more. MLS discussion now belongs in this section thanks to Toronto's entry. In exactly the same way Division 1 topics and discussions also fall into this section as long as there are entities in that league from Montreal or Vancouver.

As to the rest of your post, yeah I'm pretty much on the same page as you. MLS is actually kinda perfect for Beckham at this point in his career. The American cult of celebrity will overshadow a lot of "Becks'" failings which are coming with his aging. At least for a while. Year or two.

He's a big enough celebrity to live off his name for the present and the MLS quality is low enough that he'll still be able to play above the level of his league. More than can be said for most every European league anymore.

Wow. Do I sound cynical.

[Cheeta]

Oh, and by the by, a couple of excellent interviews on the BBC site with Gary Linerker and Brad Friedel discussing the Beckham move to MLS. Linerker has allways been a favorate of mine, and I think he's shown time and again that he can be an intelligent, thoughtfull and entertaining football media figure but this is the 1st time I've seen (or rather heard) Brad Friedel in this type of discussion and he comes off pretty well.

Getting just a wee hint of an accent to-boot, eh? Has he been overseas that long? Guess so.

[john tv]

Bent them like Beckham,well we will see how the Toronto media gurus will handle that bent. If I was a sportwriter i would take lessons in how to report on the game etc. They will look like idiots if they don't and their racoon bias will fall apart. This beckie baby is going to attract a lot more than they can handle.Things are heating up and I really whish i could be there at the racetracks or other media conferences listening to their bias observations. Anyway i am having a ball, the unstoppable is finaly happening and we will see more and more soccer stories on the front pages.
That is what we want,justice.

Hey I have been following the Lensky chat lines on the Feyenoord board,this guy is looked upon as a great player,they really like our Canadian kid.Feyenoord has two Canadians as midfielders and are only 18 and 19,some story that is.Anywat back to Beckie,bent those minds our way Beckie that's your mission in life over here.

[john tv]

Hallo,just watched the Bobby Mcgowan show or at least part of it. he said he was coming down to see the circus but said rhe league would not make it. The body language was so revealing,he does not want soccer at all. Even Steven Brunt who called in sounded somewhat embarressed by Bobby's comments and tried to spill out some very positive aspects,but Bobby would not bent,he hates soccer with a passion,that is very obvious.He has got to go or converted when he has to be part of the team.

[Canuck Oranje]

TFC gets the best of both worlds. One, they can benefit from the Beckham marketing pull and two, they don´t pay his salary, nor do they need to build a team around him.

[Gian-Luca]

I believe Fox Sports World Canada is showing the LA Galaxy press conference for this at 1pm est.

There's tons of media coverage for this in Toronto, which is amazing considering this is a signing for a soccer player in Los Angeles. TFC & MLS didn't appear to be having much of a problem in being considered "major league" by the average Torontonian prior to this (always a key for good attendance in TO), it will have even less problem now. But it might help if another club did a "Beckham signing" so that there isn't a skewed "NY Cosmos" style attendance in the games LA Galaxy doesn't play.

[argh1]

Okay, so the more I read on the Becks 'N Posh signing is that most of the 250 mill is in personal endorsments not salary. The MLS will cover the first 400,000$ and Galaxy under 10 mill per year.
Still a huge amount for this league, but not what we thought.
This will be good exposure.....but I'm still nervous about the MLS future if big name, big $ signings still come. I'm not a gambler [B)]
As an aside after buddy (can't recall his name at the moment) that owned KC Wizards (and the NFL Chiefs) passed away has there been assurances that his family will carry on in MLS? I believe he had the Wizards up for sale prior to his passing?

[Daniel]

Lamar Hunt is the name you're looking for.

[MM2]

quote:Originally posted by argh1

Okay, so the more I read on the Becks 'N Posh signing is that most of the 250 mill is in personal endorsments not salary. The MLS will cover the first 400,000$ and Galaxy under 10 mill per year.
Still a huge amount for this league, but not what we thought.
This will be good exposure.....but I'm still nervous about the MLS future if big name, big $ signings still come. I'm not a gambler [B)]
As an aside after buddy (can't recall his name at the moment) that owned KC Wizards (and the NFL Chiefs) passed away has there been assurances that his family will carry on in MLS? I believe he had the Wizards up for sale prior to his passing?


One of his son's (Clark I think)played University soccer at SMU and is a huge soccer fan, he is involved in running the Dallas franchise, so I think the Hunt Billions will continue to support MLS.

[walrus]

Lets see if this Beckham experience turns out any different from Pele and the Cosmos. For now, I'll just shift my chaw to the other cheek and tighten the grip on my hickory stick.
If it can be done, maybe soccer will grab N. A.in my lifetime. Oh, sometimes it'a a pain to be older!

[canso]

Frankie's says he's going to play Beckham in the center. Does he really think he can spin it like he's making the decisions? Who does he think he's fooling?

"Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop wants David Beckham to be his midfield general.


Beckham's ideal playing position, as a right-sided or central midfielder, has long been the subject of debate but former Ipswich and Canada coach Yallop believes the 31-year-old former England captain can be most effective in the middle of the park.


Yallop has not yet spoken with his new star, who has signed a five-year contract with the Major League Soccer team worth £128million, but has scheduled a conference call with Beckham for Sunday.


The head coach said: 'I'm not giving too much away but I would think he'll play centrally for us. We need him on the ball as much as possible and that's the best place to play him I would think.'


Yallop emphasised the importance to Galaxy of making a good start over the first three months of the MLS season before Beckham joins the club, if he decides to stay in Madrid despite Real coach Fabio Capello's assertion that he will not play for the Spanish giants again.


'We've got to get off to a good start, obviously,' he added. 'It's a big hole but it's going to be there waiting for him. I feel confident we can get off to a good start to the season and welcome him when he does come in.'


Yallop also said he was looking forward to seeing Beckham as a dressing-room mentor for the Galaxy's younger players.


'I think that's what he brings to any team. You look at what he's done with the clubs he has been at and for England, with his work-rate and his enthusiasm, that's going to rub off on our young guys and we're excited to have him.'


Reading manager Steve Coppell has praised Beckham's decision to cross the Atlantic and believes it is a natural move for such a superstar.


Fellow Premiership managers such as Martin O'Neill and Chris Coleman have been critical of the move due their belief that `Becks' could still play at the highest level in Europe.


But Coppell is adamant that the true value of the move could be to motivate the American public to take a greater interest in the beautiful game.


He told BBC Radio Five Live: 'I think it was the natural decision to make. If any one of the current crop of players was destined to go to America and try to make an impact there it was David Beckham.


'It had to be a new challenge and realistically it had to be America. But what is success? Is it the team winning or is it exciting and enthusing the next generation of players in America?


'It is very difficult to equate what will be looked upon as success. His life is not just about football. He has a foot in so many worlds now.'

[Robert]

Prediction: Career ending injury in his first game. Adios MLS. Anybody miss me. Not much to yap about since I helped get the ball rolling on K.P. execution.;)

[Robert]

Will Global Warming help soccer in Canada?

[john tv]

Hey rotzak,sorry guys bit of some Dutch slang and Robert may not like it,however it's funny that question,global warming. It did cross my mind and sort of wondered if we could extend our season longer.The question is that if this is the case what will happen to hockey,maybe the media had this already figured out. Only kidding,Yes Robert an intreaging question that will be answered before the next ice age.I do know that the advantage that the West has may also disappear.
Have you been drunk all that time since Kevan was kicked out. Hey I did speak to Kevan a couple of weeks ago and in the lawsuit your name is mentioned. I hope you are filthy rich.
I was kidding about that suit but yes I did speak to him and i can assure you he is still totally devastaed and who knows how this thing is going to play out. I always have been one of Keven's biggest supporters and I know i seem to be the only one even among my high profile soccer associates.He accomplished so much.Having a slight heart attack Robert?

[Massive Attack]

quote:Originally posted by Robert

Prediction: Career ending injury in his first game. Adios MLS. Anybody miss me. Not much to yap about since I helped get the ball rolling on K.P. execution.;)


http://www.borked.us/attention_whore3.jpg

[Robert]

Hey, I wouldn't even be wearing the dental-floss bikini!

However, on the topic of that miserable unemployed prick, if he was such a great guy, he'd have no problem finding a position that's even better than whatever it was he was doing for Canadian soccer, right? The thing is, Canadian soccer is my love, my passion, and when anyone messes with it, I'm willing to go to any lengths to destroy to destroy that individual. I guess "the don't vuck with Canadian soccer in me" is still a reflection of my European heritage. Unfortunately for Kevan, C.O.O. or C.E.O. at the CSA is probably as good as his career will ever get. It's all downhill from here, baby. As far as what people think or say about me, like do you really think I give a poop?

I feel good about the current president of the CSA. He didn't talk about what he was going to do, he just went out and did it. Unlike that pisstank Andy before him. I'm sure Andy is a nice guy to have a beer with, and shoot the poop about Partick Thistle, but that's not the kinda of man that should be leading Canadian soccer, that is unless your Kevan Pipe and you know that Andy is no threat to your livelyhood, ripping off Canadian soccer. The only one who prospered in Canadian soccer during the last twenty years was the Pipe. Our new president will figure out what he doesn't know, because he has already shown us he is capable of getting rid of the main problem to plague Canadian soccer. As he said on the radio himself, it took Andy a whole year just to figure out where to hang his hat.

Personally I don't have as much time to chat and give my opinions as some on this board. My biggest peeve is gone. You were wrong Richard, I WON big time. If my ranting or spamming annoyed or attracted the attention of just one response, positively or negatively, it set a chain in motion. Viva La Revolucion.

[Rudi]

quote:Originally posted by Robert

Viva La Revolucion.

More like "Viva La Delusion".

[Massive Attack]

quote:Originally posted by Robert

Hey, I wouldn't even be wearing the dental-floss bikini!

However, on the topic of that miserable unemployed prick...

More useless garbage from Robert....

Viva La Revolucion.


What the hell does this have to do with a thread on Beckham?

You're are so pathetic. Why don't you just kill yourself. It would be much more simpler that way.