Beckham: 50 million a year for the LA Galaxy!

[Stand_watie]

Wow. I'm not a sports guy, but that sounds a huge figure to me even for football/baseball/basketball stars.

Anybody follow Euro- football salaries, how does it compare?

Anybody follow American soccer salaries, attendances and monies? Is the money already there for this in American soccer or is this a giant gamble on the part of the purveyors of the sport, betting on future monies?

[Dannyboy]

That deal makes most European soccer contracts look small.  It makes all US soccer contracts look miniscule.  I think MLS player make something like $50k.  Each team is allowed 1 player that doesn't count against their salary cap.  Who do think that player will be for the Galaxy?  More power to Beckham.  I've been a fan of his since he started with Manchester United.  I hope he can make soccer a bigger sport in America.  I just don't want to hear him talk about it.  He has an annoying voice.

[gunsmith]

Beckham is huge over there, it will probably mean more
euro's will watch Yankee "football".

I think they were trying to get LA's huge latino population
innerested too.

I do not think soccer will ever replace real football (in America).....speaking of which...13 14 at half time...
go Garcia!

[Cromlech]

You guys live right next door to South America, so you can steal all the good players quite easily.

I don't care for soccer/football myself, but the amount of money that golden balls is getting is quite news-worthy.

[crt360]

Despite Mr. Beckham's best efforts, I seriously doubt soccer will ever be that big over here.  My friends and I all played organized league soccer when we were kids (30+ years ago), but nearly all of us migrated to football (American) as we got older.  I think we all found football more fun to play and more fun to watch.  I've got nothing against soccer, I even played on an IM team when I was at U.T., but I just can't get into following or watching the TV pro stuff.  Now, if they'd allow body-checking and some hockey-style fighting . . .

Where's all this money to pay Beckham coming from?

[Stand_watie]

...Where's all this money to pay Beckham coming from?..

+1

[gunsmith]

Darn! Eagles lost...I was going to bet on the Eagles because I like Garcia....but I was to lazy to make it too the casino...

Back to topic though...I may watch a game now that Mr Posh Spice is playing.

[Matthew Carberry]

Can't find the story anymore but I read an article one time that discussed the "type" of sport soccer is, the passing, low contact, etc., and said the kind of folks that are wired (nature/nurture?) to appreciate that kind of game are into basketball in the states.

So a big part of soccer's problem isn't that it has to establish an audience but that it has to steal its audience from an established sport.

[Cromlech]

That is a good point carebear, and basketball isn't all that popular in this country.

It's also worth noting that sport loving young black guys in this country, would probably end up in football/soccer more often than any other sport. Including basketball.

That shows you how popular the sport is over here.

[Iain]

As far as I am aware there is a lot of money behind MLS.

When Beckham moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid it was reported that Real Madrid made back half of the £25m (that right? Or was it a little less?) fee in Beckham shirt sales within just a few days. Beckham LA Galaxy shirts will sell fewer but still probably pretty significantly in one particular market that I bet MLS is looking to sell TV rights and merchandise to, and that's Japan. Beckham is huge in Japan.

Also interesting to note that Real coach Capello has said that Beckham won't play for Madrid again.

[Matthew Carberry]

As far as I am aware there is a lot of money behind MLS.

When Beckham moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid it was reported that Real Madrid made back half of the £25m (that right? Or was it a little less?) fee in Beckham shirt sales within just a few days. Beckham LA Galaxy shirts will sell fewer but still probably pretty significantly in one particular market that I bet MLS is looking to sell TV rights and merchandise to, and that's Japan. Beckham is huge in Japan.

Also interesting to note that Real coach Capello has said that Beckham won't play for Madrid again.

He's Big in Japan?  Where the Eastern Sea's so blue?

[Stand_watie]

As far as I am aware there is a lot of money behind MLS.

When Beckham moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid it was reported that Real Madrid made back half of the £25m (that right? Or was it a little less?) fee in Beckham shirt sales within just a few days. Beckham LA Galaxy shirts will sell fewer but still probably pretty significantly in one particular market that I bet MLS is looking to sell TV rights and merchandise to, and that's Japan. Beckham is huge in Japan.

Also interesting to note that Real coach Capello has said that Beckham won't play for Madrid again.

Very interesting! That explains the money trail. What would your ballpark guess be of the amount the top salaried player in the european football league is now?

Skillwise, what kind of a move is this for Beckam? I assume he just moved into a league where he's playing against opponents of a lesser skill than he has been playing against? Assuming that is correct are we talking about one rung down the ladder from the European football leagues, or more? Or are American soccer clubs technically in the same league, but they just haven't been very successful at it yet?

[Iain]

There are players in the Premiership on fairly astronomical wages, over £100k p/w, but according to an article I just read the average Premiership player is on about £13k p/w, but that will include young players and fringe players. Michael Ballack is reportedly being paid £121k (circa $236k) p/w.

Moving to America will extend Beckham's career. He's a fit guy (although there are reports of chronic back pain) but he's never been particularly pacey his game has always been about accurate passing and crossing with a talent for scoring from freekicks. MLS will be several notches down from La Liga and the Premiership, so he'll be a big fish again. Hopefully he'll be good for MLS. Then Jonny Wilkinson can move to an American rugby club and we'll supplant all your sports. It's a big plot.

[Dannyboy]

Then Jonny Wilkinson can move to an American rugby club and we'll supplant all your sports. It's a big plot.

You can keep him.  Send over somebody who won't get hurt kicking a ball.

[Iain]

I was thinking it might be the only career move he has left to him before long. Lacerated kidney was the latest injury.

[Dannyboy]

I was thinking it might be the only career move he has left to him before long. Lacerated kidney was the latest injury.

Ouch, that's gotta hurt.  He could always play as the punter on an American football team.  Personally, I don't know why American teams don't actively recruit rugby players, especially kickers.  One would think that being able to boot a ball 50 yards up field while running would be a great skill to have.

[Perd Hapley]

So a big part of soccer's problem isn't that it has to establish an audience but that it has to steal its audience from an established sport.

Or four established sports - baseball, American football, hockey, basketball.  A lot of people are saying that soccer won't get that big in America simply because we "don't have room" for another sport.  Seems right, I guess.

[Matthew Carberry]

So a big part of soccer's problem isn't that it has to establish an audience but that it has to steal its audience from an established sport.

Or four established sports - baseball, American football, hockey, basketball.  A lot of people are saying that soccer won't get that big in America simply because we "don't have room" for another sport.  Seems right, I guess.

Well, yes, but the author of that piece differentiated the sports by pacing, techniques, "mentality" that sort of thing.  Soccer and basketball fell specifically into the same "type" of sport.  His premise was that, say, baseball and football fans are wired to have little or no interest in the "type" of sport soccer is, and are sort of off the table from the beginning.  In short, soccer doesn't actually have the whole American sports fan milieu to pull from, only a certain segment of it, and that segment has a whole raft of games to watch already.