will beckham have a bigger impact than pele did when he played for cosmos? how far can beckham go in terms of raising the popularity of mls to compete with nfl, mlb, nba and nhl?
Pure speculation. Nothing to compare. Logistically there is a huge difference. This question shouldn't even exist.
Beckham will not compare to pele and the impact he had on the game. Sold out stadiums all over the country. National games of the week. If we only would of played and developed more americans at the time. The league would of made it. Many great players but to many washed up foreigners played instead of the american players.
quick synopsis Let's be realistic about this and not get caught up in Beckham vs. Pele; or who's the better player. Beckham will have a much larger impact than Pele. This is the age of cable television and the internet. Pele didn't have a Fox soccer Channel, or Goal T.Vor better yet ESPN to display his talents to the world, or for this conversation the U.S. Beckham has all that plus his name and famous wife. The sell outs have already happened, and probably EVERY game that Beckham plays in MLS will be a sell out and possibly on t.v. When Pele was playing, soccer didn't come on television, but in the Beckham age every world cup game is on television. Basically Beckham has advantages that Pele didn't have so with that being the case, he's going to have a much larger impact on the game than Pele did. The majority of the U.S public know who Pele is, but still probably couldn't properly identify him in a line up, or better yet, don't really have any idea of how good Pele was or his impact on the game. Beckham is about to be splashed all over U.S media. He's about to become a big star here in the states just like he is in the rest of the world. The real question is what would Pele's impact be if he was playing today?
"When Pele was playing, soccer didn't come on television" I got them on my local channel 9 at that time.
Let's see Pele was the greatest scorer of his time and the greatest over all player of his time. What's Beckham a free kick taker? When Mickey Mantle was making a 100 thousand a year Pele was making a million dollars a year.
On surface, you might sound right, but in reality, you failed to realize how big Pele was in 1975. Soccer was small in the USA back in 1975, but Pele could sell out the Giant stadium. He got Muhammed Ali to stand in the sideline. He was invited to visit the White House and see the President of the US. More people in the US know about Beckham than thirty years ago. Do you think he can sell out Giant stadiums? Can he bring Michael Jordan to stand on the sideline????
One major point missing here is that soccer in the US grew to this point because of Pele. There's no way that Beckham could ever compare to what Pele did for the sport in this country. Because of Pele, there was a huge youth soccer movement across the country. Those youth soccer players grew up to the point of the US qualifying for WC 1990. That led to the US hosting in 1994 and the creation of MLS. We have Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV today because of Pele. People foolish say that Pele had no impact because the poorly managed league that he played in folded after he left. But his legacy with the sport is far more than Beckham could even hope to achieve. Beckham will be good for the sport. He will bring attention to it and help grow the MLS fan base. Even if he was as great as Pele and playing here in his prime, he still wouldn't have the impact Pele did at this point. It's not a matter of one player being better than the other, it's a matter of how far the sport has come in the US.
They are talking about Knighting Beckham. He just bought a 20,000 square foot home in Beverly Hills. He plays in Los Angeles. There will be plenty of star power around Mr. Becks and Posh Spice. And unlike Pele, Beckham makes twice as much as the next highest paid player in the league.
Do I think Beckham can sell out Giants stadium? Of course he can. 2 years ago Man U and Juventus sold out Giants stadium without a recognizable star in the game.
The state of Soccer as a sport in the US was quite dire before Pele arrived on the scene. His 1st match was played before a handfull of fans. By the time he retired in '77 a full house in the biggest stadiums was not uncommon. He was pretty much a "complete" player. He got the ball rolling to where we are today. Beck's is pretty much a one trick pony! He may be a big draw initially but how many "fans" will return to watch a couple of free kicks? Play on.......
Baseball fans will turn up to watch a few home runs, gridiron fans will turn up to watch a few big plays, NASCAR fans will sit about all day watching for one crash, why wouldn't they sit in a football ground waiting for a free kick?
What would he be making if he played in the 1960's and 1970's? Another thing do you think beckhams wife is pretty? You should have seen the women that flocked to Pele I met him twice in night Clubs in the early 80's. He was with really beautiful women at that time.
Beckham can not sell out a place like giant Stadium. Manchester United playing Juventus could see out Giant Stadium. Pele could and did sell out giant stadium.
[SIZE=+1]$37,419,445.29 in 1960 http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ I don't think Pele made that much [/SIZE]
Beckham's contract pays nowhere near 250 million. His potential earnings from endorsements could earn him 250 million.
In reality...if Becks was playing in the US during the 60's and 70's he'd be working for minimum wage...like a couple of $$ an hour. Play on......
No, his contract pays him an estimated 250million. He signed a contract that no other athlete in history has even remotely signed. That's endorsements dealing with his image rights and a percentage of the team, all of it. Just plain unheard of. That's not like a normal old Nike shoe contract. This is above and beyond that. Far above and beyond that.