Beckham and L.A. Galaxy

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I'm not sure how big a story this has been in the States, but ex-England captain, David Beckham, has signed a 5 year deal worth $248USD. That's a HUGE amount of money, where did an MLS side get that kind of money from? That's $950k a WEEK. Nearly one million dollars a WEEK. That's such an incredible amount of money.

It could be argued that he's really past his prime now. He's lost his England place and spent most of the season warming up Real Madrid's bench. There was lots of talk about where he would move to, but I don't think many people seriously thought he would move to L.A. Galaxy. I'm just struggling to get my head around the amount of money they are paying him.

Quite the surprise! Is this quite a big story there also, or has it gone a bit quietly?

 

As with most soccer stories here, it is not BIG news. It is making the news, though. The money is INSANE. It seems like a huge gamble by the MLS. Time will tell if it made sense for them.

 

I'm sure that Victoria will enjoy the move to Los Angeles.

Other than the different universe of money involved, the concept is no different to those has-been (and never-were) All Blacks, who can barely make it into their provincial rugby teams in NZ, who go over to England and get paid mega-bucks (compared to what they would get here) to go and play for English club sides. Beckham will be better than anything else in the US League, just like those over-the-hill NZ rugby players end up being superstars in the English league.

 

The money is all a crock of you know what. MLS could never afford anywhere near the money they are claiming to pay him. I have heard that those figures are grossly inflated to include how much it is anticipated he will make from sponsors. This was a topic on our local sports radio station this morning.

 

This is by far a "business" purchase than a sporting one. Beckham is well past it, they've only bought him for the publicity and shirt sales. Real Madrid made back many, many times what they payed for him. And he better not start calling football soccer.

 

He's not well past it in American terms. He'll be miles better than most of their players.

 

I like soccer/football. I prefer it to our football and baseball and even basketball since basketball players turned into giants.

I wish we did have a decent team and more support for it.

 

They're trying to get more fans by bringing a well known name (even outside the soccer/football world) to the US. Not that I care, I don't really like soccer .

 

Just saw something on tv about Becks.... "David Beckham has decided to play football in America, they say tom-ay-to, he says tom-ah-to, they say soccer, he says football, they say 140 million dollars he says where do I ****ing sign"

 

, Duffin but I don't blame him, it would sure tempt me especially if my career was pretty much over at home.

 

I think Becks did all right! Man Utd, Real Madrid, captain of England, now on half a million pounds a week...

Yeah he did all right!

 

Good riddance, we don't need the divas here in Europe. As long as the MLS keeps taking them, I'm happy.

This is also in reference to the Edgar Davids selling to one of the MLS teams, do not remember which one though.

 

The fact is that more people will tune in to watch the MLS just purely because David Beckham plays there. He's probably the biggest sporting name and face in the world. You should see how popular he is in Asia, Japan especially. It's absolutely scary, they go crazy for him. I've never seen anything like it. He pulls crowds of thousands wherever he goes over there. That's a decent market for the US league to try and tap (even though you're likes of Man Utd, Chelsea, Real Madrid have really sucked that place dry).

Personally, I don't think he's WAY past his best. He's still only 31, I think he's still got a bit to offer. Maybe not at the top level, but for a mid-table Premiership team like say Tottenham or Bolton, I think he could do a job there. I guess when someone comes a long and throws 250 million dollars at you though, you'll be gone. He'll have a good lifestyle in LA, too. In England and Spain, he can't leave his house without hundreds of reporters and photographers allover him like flies round a ****. If he rips a fart out it's front page news. In LA he should be able to relax a little bit more and give his kids maybe a little more normality.

I wish him well, I like the bloke. He seems genuine and friendly.

 

wow

Good move for Becks methinks. Lots of money to set up a retirement fund, living in LA (he was always more show-biz than football) and probably now being one of the best players in that league. What first? A role in a hollywood blockbuster or playing in a rock band with Alexi Lalas?

 

He's not being paid that much for his skills on the field but his marketability. He's a household name. David Beckham is synonymous with soccer/football. This is an attempt to boost the popularity of the sport in the U.S. Also, I do believe they can pay him that much because of all the money they will get backed by endorsers and iirc, the firm handling the change is owned by one of the richest people in the U.S.

I'm with Barmy, Beckham isn't washed up yet and he still has something to give. I'm not exactly a Beckham fan but I'm not for bashing him either. He took so much (imo undeserved) crap about the last World Cup where he scored at least one of their few goals and then got dropped from the England squad by McLaren who (last I checked, could be different now though) wasn't doing too well for the team. Then Capello benches him in Real and makes comments about him to the press. Can you blame the man for wanting to go somewhere where they'll appreciate him?

 

Kind of. The only thing I would add is it's not anticipated, but guaranteed money. He will make nearly a quarter billion dollars over the next 5 years, it's just that MLS won't be paying out all of that money. There's also a list of five major sponsors that are going to be paying a chunk of that. I don't remember the names of the sponsors other than one of them was Pepsi.

On the news side of things, I'd say it's pretty big news indeed. Maybe not front page stuff across the country, but it was the lead item after the NFL playoffs in all the sports pages and on ESPN the day it happened.

 

The funny thing is that Beckham isnt really a great advertiser for football when it comes to his playing style. He is a work horse, on the pitch he is as unglamorous as they come. A workhorse with a really good right foot. Sure he can score some nice free kicks and got good corners and long passes but he isnt a dazzling dribbler to hypnotize the crowds.

 

I saw this comming about a year ago, is not something about sports or new challenges like Becks said, is about Victoria wanting out of Spain.
She started nice here by saying that she didn't like Spain because it smells like garlic; then she had a dispute with the local 'girl' (a 50 years old girl) when this girl almost slap Vicky's face. See her here (Ana)
About a year ago Becks started to be more time in adds than in the field so his skills went down. People started to hate him so Vicky started to say that she wanted to get out of Spain. Becks spent everyday telling the press he likes here and that he wants to be here lots of years, but it was clear that Victoria had another agenda.

 

@Sydax

Could be true, but I think it's also because of how stuff went downhill for him after the World Cup.

@joac

That's true, but he's football's biggest celebrity. I'm sure they'll get loads of people in the stands just from teenage girls that want to see him live