David Beckham!!!

[JayKeeley]

Moving to LA Galaxy in the MLS for....wait for it......$250M.

Unbelievable. It's a 5 year contract.

Soccer/Football fan or no, that is a huge amount of money. How much do you think his agent made?

Fookin' 'ell.

 

[Eminor]

If I was an MLS player making the league max--it was like 150,000 a couple years ago, I'd be mailing Don Garber anthrax and sneaking in some cheap shots on Becks. Seriously though, it'll be good for the league to have him. I think the rule that allowed LA to sign him will soon net some other big (but not THAT big) names. Edgar Davids is also a target, and other names have been thrown around some too.

I'm also glad to see that Clint Dempsey's transfer to Fulham went through. He's a cock, but one of the more talented young US players. He'll join McBride and Bocanegra there. Big US contingent. There was talk Onyewu might get there as well, but he's staying put.

 

[JayKeeley]

If I was an MLS player making the league max--it was like 150,000 a couple years ago, I'd be mailing Don Garber anthrax and sneaking in some cheap shots on Becks. Seriously though, it'll be good for the league to have him.

LA Galaxy just sold another 1000 season tickets today after announcing the news. It's such big news throughout MLS that even Toronto FC made mention of the news in their press conference. Even I'm tempted to go see a Red Bulls game when the Galaxy come over.

I'm also glad to see that Clint Dempsey's transfer to Fulham went through. He's a cock, but one of the more talented young US players. He'll join McBride and Bocanegra there. Big US contingent. There was talk Onyewu might get there as well, but he's staying put.

Yeah, he went over for $4m. Beckham will earn that in 4 weeks. Fulham isn't far from where I grew up. It's an odd club, a bit like West Ham. They'll never be Champions League contenders, but they'll never get relegated either. They hover in the middle of the table (and play in the worst stadium in the EPL). Still, it's good for these US players going over because they'll get to play in the EPL.

Beckham's press conference is tomorrow at 1pm EST with LA Galaxy, and of course they'll unveil his shirt. I can't imagine how many shirts will be sold. From what I hear, his Real Madrid shirt is the biggest selling shirt of all time.

 

[Eminor]

I go to Columbus every once in a while to catch a Crew game. More often for internationals. I haven't been for a couple years (since the birth of our second, actually), but I may try to make the trip this year when the Galaxy come to town. It's about 3 hours from Louisville.

 

[Reign in Acai]

Oh lovely, I expect to see thousands upon thousands of rancheros sporting his jersey in the months to come.

How the hell does the Galaxy have that kind of money to throw around anyway?!? The sports entire fan base loiters outside of Home Depot from 8am-7pm. Tu tienes agun trabajo para hacer?

 

[Six-winged Seraph]

I didn't even know America had a football team! lol

 

[Lee_B]

how's Clint Dempsey then, and how do you think he'll do for my beloved Fulham? (worst ground my arse! )

I checked out his personal website and he does indeed appear to be a bit of a bell-end. Not promising, I have to say.

 

[Eminor]

how's Clint Dempsey then, and how do you think he'll do for my beloved Fulham? (worst ground my arse! )

I checked out his personal website and he does indeed appear to be a bit of a bell-end. Not promising, I have to say.

It's a little hard to say, but I think he'll be decent after he adjusts. Like a lot of new players, he'll have to get accustomed to the pace, which is much slower in MLS. He's got a ton of confidence--I'm more worried about overconfidence. On the other hand, he's one of the very few American players to put in a decent performance in the World Cup.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

jeez, you got a big pussy (jeez, you got a big pussy)

 

[lurch70]

isn't Beckham like 40 years old already?

anyway, I can't imagine how that team is goign to function ... Beckam making $250 mil and the rest of the players $250K ...

 

[JayKeeley]

Lurch, it doesn't look good for most MLS players on a $150K per year salary cap. Beckham will be pulling in $1m per week.

He's only 31. He's got a good 5 years ahead of him, especially at MLS level.

 

[dorian gray]

It would be highly amusing if he was merely above-average a la Sergei Federov for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Then again, it'll be nice to see US soccer get more attention from the rest of the world

 

[Reign in Acai]

On ESPN it said he was only going to make 51 mil, with incentives maxing out to 250mil. This makes more sense to me.

 

[JayKeeley]

On ESPN it said he was only going to make 51 mil, with incentives maxing out to 250mil. This makes more sense to me.

Yeah but that's per year isn't it?

 

[dorian gray]

Utterly ridiculous. Where did Galaxy get this kind of money? I assume it's all based on projected ticket sales? There's no way this was just sitting around.

 

[JayKeeley]

Is it possible that the MLS paid dividends....simply because it doesn't matter which team he goes to, EVERYONE into MLS is going to want to watch him play.

I mean, I look at it more as though he joined the MLS league, and less about LS Galaxy per se.

(Otherwise I have no clue. Maybe the Galaxy CEO refinanced his mortgage)

 

[Reign in Acai]

It was confirmed on 11 January 2007 that David Beckham will be leaving Real Madrid and will be joining MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy on a 5 year deal that will see Beckham earn up to $10 million a year in direct salary, but with endorsements and profit-sharing, Beckham could earn up to $50 million a year. Beckham said: "This week Real asked me to make a decision regarding their offer to extend my contract. After considering several options to stay in Madrid or join other major British and European teams, I have decided to join L.A. Galaxy."

 

[JayKeeley]

Holy crap, that skews everything in the MLS.....everyone's on a $150K cap (PER YEAR) and he's on $10M base salary.....and then all that profit sharing...!!!!!

I'm trying to determine who owns LA Galaxy -- is it AEG? Where is the backing coming from?

I know a bunch of Arabs and Oil tycoons own several clubs in England....

 

[lurch70]

well hopefully the rest of the players will now step up to the plate and play better ...

the US needs a "new" national sport ... hasn't basketball, for example, been pretty stale for half a decade or so already?

 

[General Zod]

the US needs a "new" national sport...

What's wrong with the NFL?

The Beckham deal is interesting. I don't see it having any impact on the popularity of soccer in the U.S in the long term. I'm sure it will make the LA franchise a bigger draw at first. However, here's the problem with David Beckham making soccer more popular; he's a soccer player. And the US doesn't care about soccer players.

Zod