New York Sun - New York, NY, USA -
David Beckham is the latest international superstar heading to America with the mandate of lifting Major League Soccer's profile in the American sporting public's mind. MLS is America's best version of high caliber soccer, but when compared to Europe or South America, the league's level of play is the equivalent of Double A baseball. America's best players can get their start in MLS, but in time, if they are any good, they will look to play in an overseas league. If Beckham were playing baseball, he would be transferring to the Binghamton Mets of the Eastern League.
Formerly a star in the English Premier League and captain of the English national team, Beckham's play had fallen off in recent years, before he experienced a dramatic resurgence with Real Madrid in Spain over the last few months, helping that team capture the Spanish league title this year. But whether Beckham ever reaches the elite level of play of his younger years is not important. Los Angeles Galaxy owner
Phil Anschutz signed a deal with the English star for his name and his international renown. Anschutz wants to put MLS on the map internationally and make America a soccer hotbed.
In a sense, Anschutz is doing the same thing that
Sonny Werblin did in 1965 when he signed
Joe Namath to quarterback the Jets in the upstart American Football League. Namath was a big name college player who received a contract for the largest sum of money to that point in football history, and his mandate was to bring the league more attention. But Namath was playing in a sport that was ascending in popularity. The MLS a niche sport, not in the same class as the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, college sports, or NASCAR. Like the NHL, soccer only has pockets of popularity nationally.
On Tuesday, Beckham expressed some regret that he was leaving Spain, claiming he wanted to spend another three years in Madrid. That is not exactly what Anschutz and a host of Beckham's corporate partners wanted to hear. Beckham is supposed to raise the level of salaries and play in MLS, and get the league some international recognition.
