I have no problem with Bec's coming over. He is almost as well known in our tabloids as well as the sports page. His wife too. He may be willing just to get away from the pressures of playing under the microscope in Europe. Get the sponsors to pay most of the salary, load his contract with incentives and that way if he doesn't perform, we don't loose all that money. I think if he shows interest in playing here, then other world players might then show the interest. My only concern is if you pay him the big $$$, does everyone else on the team or other players on the other teams then also start wanting big $$$> Thats why incentives need to be build in, so we don't get burned again, with some of the duds the MLS has signed or the overspending habits of the NASL.
MLS wants to get players for free. Draft them, or sign free agents. Buy, only after you sell. Player transfer fees are 2 to 10 times the salary, the player often get 10% of it as a signing fee, the brokers/agents take a big cut, there are under the table "bung" cash payments and gentlemens agreements for future considerations. The Endorsment contracts may be involved also, either up or down. FIFA has ruled contracts run 3 years, and no residual value, except for first move players who were developed by the club. Playing the transfer game is like trading prize winning breeding stock, be it Koi carp, Persian cats or Holstein Dairey cows. Sales must exceed purchases. It works like this: To buy a $100,000 bull you must sell 10 or more $10,000 bulls. Your hope is that by breeding him to a $3,000 cow his progeny will be worth $10,000. Performance testing is done so the "beauty contest" part is for suckers. Suckers are out there; in the breeding business and in Soccer Clubs. Note: many smaller clubs sell players they have developed from youth club/academy upward as the main profit source for the Club. This is the only way MLS can be a player in the market! If you think the NASL went backrupt from paying too much to compete, look at the financials of most European Clubs. Some are bankcrupt, others survive by buddy loans and pledging the club, and the owners and supporters assets.
I'm not sure if this is what you are saying, but if you think you can draft players from around the world you are seriously mistaken.
What I mean is MLS does not want to pay a transfer fee to La Cucharacas FC that your son plays for. They wait till he is a free agent and draft him after his NCAA or USA-Youth time is up. When has MLS paid anything for a USL player? True a lot of players only have "season" only contracts but why not pay for the development? MLS can buy a "Beckham" when we have 10 (25 year old)Freddy Adu's to sell. But by then Adu might buy 10 "Beckhams". "Future Value" is what makes owning player contracts and racing horses the big gamble.
and Alan Gordon, and probably Thiago Martins. Not sure if these fees were even in the 5 figure range. under the old MLS/USL agreement MLS often paid token amounts for short-term player call-ups and a few long-term player callups. these amounts aren't probably much against MLS's bottom line, and that's saying something
AEG could but Beckham today if they really wanted to, they do not need to rely on the transfer market mechanism. Bottom line is he doesn't want to play here yet and he would demand more in wages than an MLS could afford right now. I still anticipate he will give it a go for a season or two here after the 2008 Euro cup. But by then he may be nothing more than a gimmick.
Perhaps, it might make financial sense if MLS has Becks breed with talented women's soccer teams. I think that Becks might be the perfect "man" for the job - with Wayne Rooney being an exception!
Becks' dream is to end his playing career in the US. He would love for his family to live here as well. However, I do not think he is willing to come here just yet. The European game is still better than ours and if he came over here I think he would be viewed as a sell out and who knows if he would fall out of favor with the England National Team. Look for Becks to come over here when he is in his early 30's...not just yet. However, it would be a great thing, from a marketing standpoint, if he did come to MLS now. I am sure AEG could work out a deal with either Adidas or someone else to split the costs if they were to purchase him. But I think all of this is premature right now.
He wouldn't sign unless MLS offered him more than any euro team (won't happen) He wouldn't sign anyway we would he leave the more "prestigous" leagues? Maybe when he's old and no one wants him.
Lets not put the horse before the cart shall we? I think Beckham has it in his mind to come to MLS, especially given the warm reception he got here. But I would not look for it to happen until after WC06, and perhaps not until after the next Euro Championships that follow the WC. There are alot of good reasons for him to come here and just as many, money being one, for him not to. Although the idea that Adidas or someone like McDonalds might offer him enough in endorsements to come over is possible. We know he has a deal with Adidas, but they may ante up more if he comes to MLS in the future and they get to use him in an MLS uniform for their ads and such.