David Beckham to the MLS!!!

[thatcoolguy_22]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...mls/index.html


"After discussing several options with my family and my advisors to either stay here in Madrid or join other major British and European teams I have decided to join LA Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year."


Absolutely Brilliant!

[westofyou]

George Best Version 2.0?

[M2]

Here's a chance for the U.S. game to prove itself. If Beckham can't keep up here either then we're in a pretty good place.

[NJReds]

Good for MLS. Now they need to build on this publicity.

[RedsManRick]

MLS : European soccer leagues

as

Japanese baseball league: MLB

We develop good players, they go over there. Their players age and start losing their skills, they come over here.

[Joseph]

Originally Posted by RedsManRick

MLS : European soccer leagues

as

MLB: Japanese baseball league.

We develop good players, they go over there. Their players age and start losing their skills, they come over here.

Did you say that right in relation to baseball? I think our marginal players go over there and excel, while their stars come over here to prove they might be as good as advertised.

Soccer is dead on though.

[vaticanplum]

Whoa.

[NJReds]

Report: 5 yrs. - $250M. That's some serious cake.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by NJReds

Report: 5 yrs. - $250M. That's some serious cake.

If that's true, then that has to be the dumbest contract ever. $50 million a year for Beckham? Sure he has the name recognition, but if the LA Galaxy is awash in that kind of money, wouldn't they have been better served trying to sign top-flight talent on the upside of their careers rather than the downside? If they don't have that money and are banking on the marketability of Beckham bringing in the cash, then they're taking an incredible risk.

Here's another question. If you are a fan of one of the other 3 teams owned by the Anschutz group, are you ticked off at the money they're throwing at Beckham to play in LA? If you're an MLS fan, does this help improve the quality of the league as a whole? Or does it signal the beginning of the end? Will the Columbus Crew be able to compete for top foreign talent, or even top domestic talent, when AEG is throwing that kind of cabbage at a player most people believe is on the downside of his career?

[Oxilon]

Originally Posted by NJReds

Report: 5 yrs. - $250M. That's some serious cake.

That's beyond absurd. If I'm not mistaken, that makes him easily the highest paid athlete in the United States, correct? Go figure he plays in the least watched sport in the United States.

[Betterread]

I'm not surprised he's coming to the MLS, but I am surprised at his compensation. Was there a bidding war between the MLS and Real Madrid? I am very curious about the contracting process that resulted in Beckham's move.

[NJReds]

link

This might be the biggest contract for any athlete.

Beckham to quit Real and head for L.A.
By Simon Baskett

MADRID (Reuters) - Former England captain David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and sign a five-year deal for MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy, he told Reuters on Thursday.

"This week Real Madrid asked me to make a decision regarding my future and the offer to extend my contract for a further two seasons," said Beckham.

"After discussing several options with my family and my advisors to either stay here in Madrid or join other major British and European teams I have decided to join LA Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year.

"I would like to thank supporters and the people of Madrid who have made my family and I so welcome in my time here making this an extremely difficult decision to make.

"I have enjoyed my time here enormously and I am extremely grateful to the club for giving me an opportunity to play for such a great team and their amazing fans."

ANOTHER CHALLENGE

In a televised interview provided by LA Galaxy, Beckham added: "Another challenge has come up and it is the right time for us to do it.

"I didn't want to go out there at 34 years old and for people to turn around and say he's only going there to get the money. It's not what I'm going out there to do.

"I'm going to hopefully build a club and a team that has a lot of potential. I think that is what excites me."

"Regrets? No. I have never had any regrets throughout my life and career and I never want to.

"I moved to Real Madrid in 2003. I have to say thank you to Florentino Perez for giving me the chance to actually play for this huge team and to play in that white shirt was an honor for four years.

"To play with the players I have played with, to play with Zidane was the biggest honor I have had in my career, to play with the likes of Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos you know, for me, there is no regrets there.

REAL CONFIRMATION

Real Madrid confirmed that Beckham would not renew his contract with the club.

"After a meeting this morning at the Bernabeu between the club and David Beckham's agents both parties decided that David would not extend his present contract with the club which ends on June 30, 2007," Real said on their Web site (www.realmadrid.com).

The 31-year-old, who joined Real from Manchester United in June 2003, is the most famous player to sign up for Major League Soccer since it began in 1996.

He is also the biggest name player to move to club soccer in the U.S. since the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff played in the long-defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 1970s and early eighties.

HUGE DEAL

His deal is reported to be one of the biggest in global sport with Beckham set to earn more than $250 million over the duration of his contract following the removal of the salary cap in the MLS. Beckham will earn approximately one million dollars a week.

LA Galaxy had made public their interest in Beckham who runs a football academy that shares its home with the team and who has close links to the Anschutz Entertainment Group who own the club.

"David Beckham coming to MLS might be viewed by some as one of the most important moments for soccer in this country and perhaps the history of professional sport," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement.

"David transcends the sport and is a cultural icon. David is clearly one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. People are going to feel really good about David Beckham spending the rest of his career in the U.S."

The news ends months of speculation about the future of the midfielder whose contract with Real expires at the end of the season.

LOST PLACE

Having been first choice in the Real Madrid starting lineup since he moved to Spain, Beckham lost his place following the arrival of Italian coach Fabio Capello.

He has only started five of Real's 16 league games this season and was known to be frustrated with his lack of opportunities in the first team.

The former Manchester United player said he was now inspired by the challenge of cracking the American soccer market.

"I am proud to have played for two of the biggest clubs in football and I look forward to the new challenge of growing the world's most popular game in a country that is as passionate about its sport as my own.

But he insisted he would be giving his all for Real Madrid until the end of the season to try and win the major trophy that has eluded him since he joined the club in 2003.

"For the rest of this season I will continue to give 100 percent to my coach, team mates and fans and I believe Fabio Capello will bring this club and its supporters the success they truly deserve."

[HumnHilghtFreel]

Per Yahoo! Sports' front page

Question: Will you watch the MLS now?

11564 votes since Jan 11 2007
Yes 35% 4048 votes
Maybe 17% 1926 votes
No 48% 5590 votes

[savafan]

Sweet, the Beckhams in Hollywood. Can Spiceworld 2 be far behind?

[max venable]

When I think of Beckham, I think of this quiz:

Are you a metrosexual?