Where you see a Catch 22, I see more of a virtuous cycle. We can make more money without better talent. That's what all the talk of Socer Specific Stadia (SSS) is about. A good product at a fair price with some profit left over. That's all the league needs and it's well on the way to attaining it. Some of those profits will be chanelled to better players. The increase in the talent pool of US players will meet the increased revenues of MLS somewhere in the middle. Landon Donovan had to be practically whipped like an old carthorse to take a huge pay increase and leave his beloved life in San Jose. One day we will be able to buy a large protion of the best talent the soccer world has to offer but only if cooler heads than yours prevail. You are falling all over yourself in a fantasy world where some messianic figure is suddenly going to give MLS the acceptance you vicaroiusly crave for it to have. That's not going to happen. $40 million: Will buy 2 million tickets. Will buy 1 SSS. Will buy 1 MLS team and one third of the cost of a stadium. OR A crap shoot on a player, any player. We can all bag on Beckham or call him God. It doesn't matter. No one player is worth the risk. It smacks of desperation. The last roll of the dice on the league's death bed. Please, someone, save us! So which one is Beckham? The moon or the rocket ship? Oh please, oh please, let him be the rocket ship.
Look, maybe I need to clarify. I don't think we should spend the money on Beckham right now at all. I'm sorry if my response made it sound like I was an advocate of that idea. What I did say was that I support that kind of aggressive thinking. There's probably a better way to do it than a crap shoot like Beckham. I just think your idea of "gradual production" is good in theory, but how long will it take? The league might not be able to hang around for 20 years while we wait for profits to increase. From a growth and marketing stand-point I think the MLS should be focusing on a couple priorities. These may seem obvious, but I'm just trying to simplify things. Please add as you see fit: 1. SSS. This creates a sense of permanence and growth. Not only for us (the soccer faithful) but for them (the mindless American population). Also, I still believe this is the primary key in revenue growth. My DC united gets whored the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission and I don't want to know what will happen with the "Nationals" playing there now. 2. The product. Sure to a few of us soccer is less a sport than a passion. But lets keep it real. Professional sports are really just another product. Right now the MLS is canned Spam; not very appealing to most Americans. Its a simple question with a tough answer: How do we sell soccer? Hypothetically speaking, grandiose ploys like bringing in mega-stars like Beckham are not a bad idea. But to reiterate, I don't actually believe thats the solution. In fact I don't know what the solution is. Either way, Adu was a godsend, but how to keep the ball rolling should always be on the minds of our MLS marketing genius'. 3. Control. We don't want to become the NHL do we? Or the NASL for that matter. Freddy's $500,000 is an anomoly and I hope it stays that way. Simple business question: What happens when you spend more than you bring in? You become the US government. Well, when you're a business, you become extinct. So, since I have a habit of rambling and thus getting off the point, let me bring things back in. I think the steady growth we're seeing is great, but I still think we're going to have to do some aggressive things in order to speed up growth. I think all of us dream about a day when the MLS is as viable as the EPL, but at this rate it won't happen in our lifetime. To come full circle, I love the MLS. But I don't think I want to watch "AAA baseball" for the rest of my life.
well done! And Beckham is crap. Nobody is worth 40 million. If you want to improve league we need to go after promising youth internationals from South and Central America and create a reserve league which I hear we are doing. Personally I think Beckham is the most overrated player England has. It's a shame that I cannot see Shaun Wright Phillips brilliance while playing for England because he has some fashionable personality in front of him. SWP beats Beckham any day.
Yeah but the $40 million (he's not worth that much anyway) you're talking about paying doesn't go to Beckham it goes to his club then you still have to pay him as someone pointed out earlier. This whole discussion doesn't matter anyway do you honestly think Beckham will leave Europe to come and play here? He would be risking his place in the English nation team, especially with the way Shaun Wright Phillips has been playing.
The other factor to consider with Beckham and other stars are their egos. Perhaps some of the stars may want the challenge to come over to MLS, again for the right amount of money, to see if their star power will carry over here. Personally I would rather see MLS spend money on bringing in middle tier players who will add value to the league through level of play. The hard workers who are selfless are the types I want to see come into the league. That way the overall level of play would improve. But that is just my feeling.
Seems people do not see the difference of the Beckham ubiquitousness compared with that of Matteus--who was an ass throughout his career. If MLS paid $50 million, they would double their money on him in free advertising/ soccer "legitimacy making." For some odd reason, SportsCenter loves the guy. How much would MLS PAY to get a regular rotation on SportsCenter? $5 Million a year, if they promised to cover MLS?
"Remember that Americans always want to come out and see the best, and in the minds of many Americans, this guy represents the best (whether he is or not). This, if pulled off, could really change things." --MRschizoid21 In the past, I have been opposed to this line of thought, but after seeing the effect Freddy Adu had on attendance this past season, I think we need more of the same -- in fact we need to top that buzz if we can. An older, stronger, more savvy Freddy should have even greater impact next year, adding Beckham (and his wife, frankly) would up the interest in MLS another notch. It's about glamour, and sex-appeal, to be honest. Of course the wage he commands could could cause friction with other players; it would have to be from sponsorship beyond a top-of-the-cap deal he would get. There is an element of showmanship MLS needs to add; we got just a taste of it last season, and it was fun -- for the general public, too. We lost Landon; we need to up the ante for the fans (and I don't mean Razov). There are players of greater ability than Beckham, but they wouldn't draw like Beckham. Zidane, perhaps, would bring out the Eurosnobs, and I wish we could find one such star for each team -- except DC; they have Freddy. I'm convinced once we draw large crowds, we can keep them this time; the level of play is far higher than back in '96 when the turnout was high and great things were expected. Also, we have new stadiums coming online that will give fans a more exciting and unique experience, attributes that will keep them coming back for more.
I think the reason this topic was brought up in the first place (besides of course the obvious dicussion about how to hang your threads) was because the MLS doesn't want to have a reasonable league. I think we want to be a great league with great players. A place where people will want to come and play and not a pit stop before better places. Isn't that what you want as a fan? Its too soon for Beckham or players of his caliber to come. We as a league just aren't there yet. But I think that should be where we're going. You see what I'm saying right? Everyone, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! I know these are far-fetched ideas but not impossible. Look how the rest of the world caught up with the US in basketball. After the original Dream Team who would have thought everyone would catch us and then pass us in that sport? Maybe some day we can say the same thing about soccer. I know most of you are cynical as is typical of American soccer fans. But I am hopeful.
The good question is not : Why not Beckham now? Before questionning about Beckham in Mls, we should think of : Does Beckham want to come play in MLS ?? I don't think so...
I seem to recall on Sky Sports some time back that Beckham stated he would like to come to the US to play, I think more for getting exposure here then anything else for his after soccer career. I think that Becks is the type of player who could come to MLS and have a profound effect on the game here. He would certainly bring in much needed exposure here in the states. He is known to the American Public. His wife is well known here, I say try to bring him in after WC06. Is there anyone else who has a high profile that MLS should consider bringing in for name value as well as still being a high level player?
The rest of the world did NOT catch up to the US in basketball. The good, professional American players that would have made up the '04 dream team did not want to go to greece and risk injury and play for free. If the cream of the NBA crop had actually gone, it would not be Argentina holding the gold medal, that's for certain.
Plus, whether or not the world's national teams have caught up isn't really relevant. Our National soccer team has caught up with the world to the extent that it can compete, just like world basketball teams. But we're talking about our domestic league catching up to the world's top leagues. Even though Argentina and Italy have great National basketball teams, their leagues have not come anywhere close to catching up with the NBA.
MLS pays record transfer for "Becks". Media hype machine starts chugging. Wiley league brass pits "The Phenom vs. The Face" for opening day on national television. Dema breaks his leg in the first half. $40 mil flushed. In a display of distress Posh displays her Union Jack pin upside down on her lapel. Oh! The horror of it all.
Well said, the NBA is the best cause the best come here to play. MLS does not attract the best in the world, yet. Maybe someday they will, maybe not. I do agree that is the best NBA players had played, it would not have been a close tourney. In fact had the selections been better, why no PG's or shooting guards? they could have won without the top stars. You wouldn't goto the World Cup without any midfielders right?
One thing that we haven't mentioned, the sports hero landscape in this country is remarkably barren at the moment. The NBA is dealing with Basketbrawl and the correct impression that the game has regressed. Its biggest stars are a 34-year-old center with limited skills who has never been warmly accepted; a surly megalomaniacwho was just charged with sexual assault; a 19-year-old who may be a decade off of being at the top of his game; a quiet fundamentally sound center whom everyone should love but fails in the personality department and a guy playing in Minnesota.Not ideal. MLB just had its foremost star, never a friendly sort, get exposed for performance enhancing drugs. The Yankees aren't quite what they were.Things aren't looking promising here. NFL will always be there, but it's in the throes of Parcells/Belichek anonymous possession football. I couldn't even say who the biggest stars are in the league right now. Tom Brady? Brett Favre, still? Maybe Michael Vick has the potential. Or Donovan McNabb. But none of them appear to be Joe Montana. The biggest stars on the American sports landscape right now are a golfer (who hasn't done real well lately) and a cyclist. My point being that Beckham, already a media presence here, could make a gigantic splash right now. That doesn't mean that he would for sure or that the numbers add up ... just that it's an excellent window that may not be repeated for awhile. This will happen eventually, I think. Too many people with too much economic security with too much to potentially gain for it not to happen when the price is right. And compared to how much money Uncle Phil dumped into the Around the World in 80 Days fiasco, this probably looks like a sure thing. And I think the league could use a touch of glamour. See Freddy. The other issue is the possibility of foreign television rights. Does there come a time when there is money to be made for MLS as summertime soccer programming for European television?. Another good run at the World Cup and the coming of beckham might help that.
An interesting discussion but, please, he ain't coming now. Wait 'til after the '06 Cup and see if he quits being captain of the English national team. Then it might be worth a shot, once he's sending signals that he's on his last couple of years. He's clearly been at least a little tempted by the "US market" and it might be an interesting move by MLS around the time Freddy starts talking about going to Europe and (please lord) we have another good performance in a World Cup to generate attention.
Yeah, American sports are full of intellectuals and brainiacs, like most basketball thugs and football scum bags Beckham isn't smart, but he's still the most profitable and marketable sportsman anywhere, ever. I also dont think he would cost that much. He;s not been in great form and is pushing 30. That age isnt a problem at all - prob 6 years left at the top level, and his game isn;t at all based around speed.
One thing that should be considered with Beckham is the publicity that he would bring with him. I mean it would be covered everywhere. MLS gets instant international exposure. How could that be bad?? Also, what if he came over and wasn't a top player? What would that say about MLS? Or about him? Seems like a risk there. After WC06 I think he will be coming over.
My honest expectation is that Beckham will have a run with one of the London sides after he and Real Madrid decide to part ways. If he's still got the ability to play after that, then MLS may be a possibility, with Adidas, Pepsi, and other sponsors obviously picking up a lot of his salary.