David Beckham's Effect on American "Soccer"

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.

I'll get slammed for this, but here goes... i never, ever understood the fascination with Bekham. He was never the astounding player that urban myth has made him out to be. He was good for a few years, but always had some very big limitations.

The most overrated player of all time by a mile imo.

sportsczy wrote:I'll get slammed for this, but here goes... i never, ever understood the fascination with Bekham. He was never the astounding player that urban myth has made him out to be. He was good for a few years, but always had some very big limitations.

The most overrated player of all time by a mile imo.

Couldn't agree moree actually. Never rated him overall as a player, but his ability in dead ball situations is still something I do like about him. Other than that, he's always been rather average compared to those he's played with at United and Madrid.

He'll be here in Melbourne soon for a friendly. Tickets r so damn expensive nobody's going. Probably just around 25,000. Tickets are like minimum $80. I remember when juve came I only paid like $15

Well he has had a major impact media wise. Increase of jersey/ ticket sales, increase of tv time, increase of marketing. On the MLS itself he was the first DP, ushered in that whole thing. Sure having a huge name like Beckham was great for the MLS as it started off something that is growing. Now I don't think it is as vital for the MLS to have Becks anymore. Sure he still is a big name but I know other players in the MLS are starting to become bigger, when you see commercials now there is still Beckham but not as much as there used to be. Plus hes only played in 20+ games twice in the 5 years hes been here. As a Galaxy fan he is not even in my top favorite players on the team but it was nice to have him on the team and I am grateful for his contributions to the club. IMO I would let him go and use the money we would have offered him to resign Franklin and Juninho and get a couple young players

Scored two fantastic goals at the weekend if you haven't seen already:






Bend it like Beckham.

The long shot.

I actually watched the first half of that game, even though I don't watch too much MLS. It was 4-2 at the half

Although I don't like the guy much, he has done a lot for the sport here, and I thank him for that.

MLS is like a sleeping pill to me though, i understand why americans don't like it.

He helped by increasing ticket sales and proving to other European players that there is a plan B if they are planning to retire.

Tbh, in my opinion his impact on the sport here has been negligible. His star quality has brought attention to the Galaxy and MLS, but i dont think the attention translates to interest. For the most part he's perceived as just another handsome celebrity that people get more excited over seeing on the red carpet, not necessarily on the pitch.


Interest in soccer/football whichever you want to call it, can take off here, but the problem with it is that Americans want to see the best. While MLS has been able to recruit some big names, they are usually on the last leg of their careers and the league just doesn't offer the best. It's difficult to watch european leagues for many people because of the time zone difference. It's hard enough for me to get up early on a Saturday morning especially after being out on Friday night to watch an Arsenal match at 8AM EST.

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.

Agree with this. Montreal had over 60,000 for a match because of Beckham, not Donovan. So if we're talking about MLS in general, it's not even close. Most casual fans know very little about Donovan, but EVERYONE knows Beckham and will show up to see him. Several years ago (early 2000's), Beckham along with Tiger Woods were vote the most famous athletes in the WORLD.