David Beckham's Effect on American "Soccer"

this is a horrible website.. but none the less
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/950670-mls-cup-2011-final-david-beckham-caps-american-mission-with-triumph-for-galaxy

in the end i think it can be said that hes done alot for the sport in america.

His teammate has done a lot more for the game here than him.

Thanks for the help, though, David.

justdoit_ wrote:His teammate has done a lot more for the game here than him.

landon donovan is probably the "best" american soccer player in history, of course hes done alot, but beckham has done alot to bring media coverage and attention to the sport in the us.

Too bad he's already got one foot in Paris.

Lionel Messi wrote:Too bad he's already got one foot in Paris.

Neither here nor there with the original discussion, please stay on topic.

The Madrid One wrote:

justdoit_ wrote:His teammate has done a lot more for the game here than him.

landon donovan is probably the "best" american soccer player in history, of course hes done alot, but beckham has done alot to bring media coverage and attention to the sport in the us.

Well they are different; Landon Donavan is American so naturally right off the bat he has that over David Bekcham, who is obviously English. Not to mention that Landon Donavan has had the chance to move to England, and has refused it v. David Beckham who only came to America having won everything in Europe and being burned out.

Also, it is either Landon Donavan or Brian McBride for me.

JuvenelCuore wrote:

The Madrid One wrote:

justdoit_ wrote:His teammate has done a lot more for the game here than him.

landon donovan is probably the "best" american soccer player in history, of course hes done alot, but beckham has done alot to bring media coverage and attention to the sport in the us.

Well they are different; Landon Donavan is American so naturally right off the bat he has that over David Bekcham, who is obviously English. Not to mention that Landon Donavan has had the chance to move to England, and has refused it v. David Beckham who only came to America having won everything in Europe and being burned out.

Also, it is either Landon Donavan or Brian McBride for me.

ya but this isnt intended to compare between the two. this was intended to view what beckham has done for american soccer, specially at increasing the sports popularity.

mcbride has nothing on donovan

How big of an effect has he really had?

The Madrid One wrote:

JuvenelCuore wrote:

The Madrid One wrote:

justdoit_ wrote:His teammate has done a lot more for the game here than him.

landon donovan is probably the "best" american soccer player in history, of course hes done alot, but beckham has done alot to bring media coverage and attention to the sport in the us.

Well they are different; Landon Donavan is American so naturally right off the bat he has that over David Bekcham, who is obviously English. Not to mention that Landon Donavan has had the chance to move to England, and has refused it v. David Beckham who only came to America having won everything in Europe and being burned out.

Also, it is either Landon Donavan or Brian McBride for me.

ya but this isnt intended to compare between the two. this was intended to view what beckham has done for american soccer, specially at increasing the sports popularity.

mcbride has nothing on donovan

In that case, I agree. I am sure that a lot of people do not know Landon Donavan in Europe nearly as much as David Beckham is known by Americans.

"Bend it like Beckham."

english_jewel wrote:How big of an effect has he really had?

A surprising amount, actually. Especially when it comes to television coverage of MLS matches... not necessarily live but in the SportsCenter style recaps.

Beckham's move also really opened the doors for European stars (even if they are past their best they are still stars)considering a move to MLS. Henry and Marquez, to name only two, would almost certainly have not even considered such a move before Beckham's jump.

David's biggest contribution, in my opinion, would be his forcing of the designated player rule, which has been instrumental in getting Keane, Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez, Torsten Frings, and others into the league.

Like Robinho being the first to jump ship to Man City. Edit: Beaten to it^^^^

As for the increase in popularity aspect that we're seeing, I think this starts and ends with Algeria.

english_jewel wrote:How big of an effect has he really had?

he was the first HUGE european star to hit the american turf, and it helped illuminate the sport in america not just over seas but most importantly in america. here in los angeles everyone know who david beckham is, and everyone knows who los angeles galaxy is.

his name is so famous that it automatically became synonymous with american soccer, and its attempt to go big.

his move also was the first and led other to join him and follow suit such as henry and etc.

he not only turned into a sort of icon, or more so at that in america, he became a figure for a new era for mls.

and even if he leaves soon, he couldnt have had a better ending.

he kinda helped LEGITIMIZE the sport as much as donovan without even playing in the nt. thats how big his effect has been.

Until he went there I hadn't even heard of MLS or LA galaxy.

I think allot of people would of been the same

also before becks LA had some ugly kits.

If Americans really wanted and had immense interest in football, they could ve made it sports number one

Donovan has done more for US soccer as a whole, countung in the national team. But Beckham has done more for the MLS. He was the first big european player to come to the US, and by doing so showed other European stars that its a good league to move to, such as Henry, Keane, Frings, and possibly even Del Piero, Drogba, and/or Lampard.

Bump

#10 can end his career in the MLS.

Del Piero in Seattle :dance:

The Madrid One wrote:he was the first HUGE european star to hit the american turf

Not really. Franz Beckenbauer played for New York Cosmos from 1977-1980.

rwo power wrote:

The Madrid One wrote:he was the first HUGE european star to hit the american turf

Not really. Franz Beckenbauer played for New York Cosmos from 1977-1980.

Beat me to it lol. I kept thinking each time people kept saying was the first major European to play here. der Kaiser, Chinaglia, Best and Cruyff all predated him by 20+ years.

To be fair though, I think people are talking about Becks in terms of modern football and the advent of the MLS as none of the above were still active here when the MLS was founded after the '94 WC.

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As for the OP, Becks has certainly given MLS "visibility" within the upper echelons of world football. For my generation, the ones that don't watch footy anyway, he's the only guy they know. For the older generations which includes my parents, it's still Pele who first comes to mind. So in that regard, Becks has at least got this country looking at the sport more and more, but ultimately, this triumph for him came too late I think. More will be needed players of his reputation and calibre in this environment if the football is truly take off in the way Yanks secretly hoped it would when it was first announced that Becks had joined LA.

I guess the main problem is that most European footballers consider the MLS more as retirement home and only go there after they finished their European career.

Bekham made himself a lot of cash going to the MLS... and the MLS used him to promote the game. He barely even played for the Galaxy until this season. Amazingly enough, this is his contract year.

He was mostly known in LA for being completely absent more than anything else.

sportsczy wrote:Bekham made himself a lot of cash going to the MLS... and the MLS used him to promote the game. He barely even played for the Galaxy until this season. Amazingly enough, this is his contract year.

He was mostly known in LA for being completely absent more than anything else.

Precisely why his overall impact on the league will not be as lasting as it could've been had his fitness been better. It's all a bit unfortunate I suppose, but the league certainly got what it paid for finally this season. A shame he probably won't be up to the task again next season, but thems the breaks.

McLewis wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Bekham made himself a lot of cash going to the MLS... and the MLS used him to promote the game. He barely even played for the Galaxy until this season. Amazingly enough, this is his contract year.

He was mostly known in LA for being completely absent more than anything else.

Precisely why his overall impact on the league will not be as lasting as it could've been had his fitness been better. It's all a bit unfortunate I suppose, but the league certainly got what it paid for finally this season. A shame he probably won't be up to the task again next season, but thems the breaks.

It wasn't even a fitness thing a lot of times. As soon as Milan would come calling, he would suddenly get healthy. Everyone in LA knew the Galaxy were getting scammed on this.

sportsczy wrote:

McLewis wrote:

sportsczy wrote:Bekham made himself a lot of cash going to the MLS... and the MLS used him to promote the game. He barely even played for the Galaxy until this season. Amazingly enough, this is his contract year.

He was mostly known in LA for being completely absent more than anything else.

Precisely why his overall impact on the league will not be as lasting as it could've been had his fitness been better. It's all a bit unfortunate I suppose, but the league certainly got what it paid for finally this season. A shame he probably won't be up to the task again next season, but thems the breaks.

It wasn't even a fitness thing a lot of times. As soon as Milan would come calling, he would suddenly get healthy. Everyone in LA knew the Galaxy were getting scammed on this.

Ok I agree with that, but now we have to look at the other times when it actually WAS A fitness issue. It just seemed a inconvenient for Becks and just downright unlucky for LA and MLS at large. If he had at least managed to stay fit in between his stints with Milan, then LA could've gotten more out of him. They probably wouldn't have won the league, but Becks would've had a slighly larger impact.

But it's all in hindsight now anyways. His time is very much done here and he's made it pretty clear in his own way that this isn't where he wants to end his playing days.