David Beckham will play for the Los Angeles Galaxy beginning in July.
Soccer
While the Los Angeles Galaxys signing of David Beckham appears to be the shot bent round the world, his arrival in July will merely be the biggest development for a league starting its 12th season Saturday. Although soccer is still a smudge on the radar of most American sports fans, M.L.S. has established itself as a fixture on the landscape, one that is poised to grow in a country of changing demographics and sporting tastes.
Its fair to say that we at the league office never intended that this would be the only story of our off-season, Commissioner Don Garber said Monday during a conference call, referring to the signing of Beckham, 31, from Real Madrid. The Beckham story has taken on a life of its own.
But we dont believe any one thing will make soccer or M.L.S. one of the dominant sports in this country in the short term. A lot of individual things are happening at a slow, steady pace. Over the next 5, 10, 20 years, we have no doubt that this will be a dominant league in this country. It is not a matter of if, but when.
Where the league once had two groups (Anschutz Entertainment and Hunt Sports) controlling a majority of the clubs, there are 10 owners for 13 teams, with the addition of Toronto F.C. (There are new owners in Kansas City and Washington.) After struggling in cavernous stadiums where teams garnered little if any additional revenue, seven teams play in stadiums designed for soccer. Colorado and Toronto will open new buildings to start the season.
The league, which dropped two teams before the 2002 season, has steadily added new clubs, with Toronto F. C. making it 13 this year with the expectation of growth to 16 teams in 2010. This season, for the first time, all games will be televised and the league will earn rights fees from ABC, ESPN, Univision and Fox.
On the field, M.L.S. has begun an initiative called Game First, which will deal with matters as mundane as a uniform length for the grass at stadiums. M.L.S. has hired a full-time consultant based in South America who will aid in scouting and will institute a youth academy system that should enable teams to retain the rights to some players they develop.
Yet a measured approach is no substitute for the jolt of publicity when Beckham finally arrives.
The Rule
David Beckhams signing became possible when M.L.S. officials approved the Designated Player Rule, which enables each team to sign a star player for a salary that exceeds the league maximum of about $300,000. M.L.S., which still owns all player contracts under its single-entity system, will pay the first $400,000 in salary; the rest is up to the club.
Beckham, who will reportedly earn about $5.5 million before endorsements and incentives, will give the league a higher profile, but his ultimate impact is harder to gauge. He must perform on the field, of course. But he is more likely to excel as a tireless ambassador of the game in the United States.
The New York metropolitan area no longer will be the leagues black hole. The Red Bulls hired Coach Bruce Arena, the former coach of the United States national team, after last years World Cup. The club brought the veteran midfielder Claudio Reyna home to New Jersey as one of its designated players and reacquired an older and hopefully wiser striker, Clint Mathis. In addition, Arena traded for midfielder Dave van den Bergh and signed goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus.
The Red Bulls have broken ground on a stadium, which is probably 15 months to 2 years away, they have a new (albeit interim) practice home in northern New Jersey and they seem finally to have a blueprint for success.
Yesterday the Fire, which plays in an area with a large Mexican population, played to the crowd when it announced the signing of the mercurial Mexican striker Cuauhtmoc Blanco, 34, who plays for Club Amrica and is not expected to join Chicago until July. More than 5,000 fans turned out Monday night for Blancos informal introduction at the Fires stadium in Bridgeview, Ill.
D.C. United, one of the leagues most successful clubs, traded two promising young Americans Freddy Adu to Real Salt Lake and Alecko Eskandarian to Toronto F.C. The club continues to look south for players, with the signing of the Brazilians Luciano Emilio and Fred, added to a roster that includes Jaime Moreno of Bolivia and the Argentines Christian Gmez (last years league most valuable player) and Facundo Erpen. |
