I'm sure you all heard about this by now, since it's getting more news coverage than a major assassination or something (at least here), plus people have been talking about it since summer... but David Beckham signed with the L.A. Galaxy today. Long story short, he's getting $250 million for 5 years, which is almost a million dollars per week. For that kind of money, he better win the championship all five years. Psh! Won't be easy with an 11 and 15 team (39 pts) though... But I can't say it's not a little bit exciting, even though he's not my favorite player or anything. But it's something, you know? Some kind of interest in the (yawn) MLS.

Click here for the story from the L.A. Times.

By the way, I have a feeling we're gonna get sick of his wife very, very fast.

Well now you Americans can sit down and watch a real sport.. ;)by the way this one is called Football

My American friends you are welcome to the Beckhams!
Over-paid & over-rated the pair of them!
I suppose he is a "big name" boost for your soccer league but he has'nt much left in his tank these days!
He will be more interested in being seen at the Oscars and stuff

Apprantley he will be earning £128 million over 5 years.That works out at 80pence per Second :o.

Good luck too him.I did think he still had an England carrer,but evan he has lost hope.

Oh he is gonna make some money alright.
I also think his England career has gone so why not go where the best money is?
I just never have been a fan of his...i could never warm to him, but he'll not be bothered by what i think of him i imagine..
Unless we compare bank accounts, now that would really make him jealous

Its not that he needs the money,he apprantly going to boost the game in the states.

I think it's great for football. He's going to boost football in the states. But good luck with him because he won't perform well.

I think he'll be a success on the pitch as the standard of football is lower.

Mr Ferguson should have swallowed his pride and made a checky bid for Beckham,im sure he would have jumped at the chance to go back to his boyhood team..

We've already got football. And our real game is baseball, thanks.

Despite what Beckham said about making soccer huge in America, I'm not seeing it. Outside of little kids in competition by parents who came to Little League signups late, high school students, and some college teams and clubs, no one cares about soccer professionally in the US. I don't think David Beckham is going to make a difference.

Although...it does mean now I'll have to wait even longer for the MLB ticker on the ESPN Newswire as we'll have meaningless Beckham stats from MLS taking a spot.

True,Its just like Micahel Jordan coming to the UK,no one would care, has no one watchs Basketball like they do in the US

I congratulate him on his contract, and hope he enjoys America. I admittedly don't know much about him, but he seems like a decent guy.

I doubt his presence here will give a significant lift to the sport. I think he'll attract a lot of attention with his wife, based on their celebrity outside the game. Perhaps they are planning to launch movie careers, which is fine.

Anyway, they'll take some of the tabloid attention from Paris Hilton.

No? I imagine he's already lost hours of sleep over it.



I don't know about not caring about soccer in general. I mean it's not as popular as other sports, but a lot of my friends, especially people who travel to Europe on a regular basis or are from there, care a whole lot about the sport. However-- no one cares about the MLS. Because those of us who want to see a real match being played watch European or South American leagues. And one star player moving here isn't going to make that much difference to the people who really care.

It'll make a difference to new fans who will jump on the bandwagon, but it'll only be a matter of time before they realize that a soccer player past his prime is not that exciting. I'll probably go to a few games with friends, just for the initial buzz of it, because as it stands, at least it's something going on. But I doubt it's going to rock my world. I'll let you guys know if it does.



My fingers are crossed for that! Victoria Beckham is extremely annoying too, though. I don't know if she's at Paris' level, but...

I love it. The guy is past his prime but I've warmed to the guy. It's a good move for the MLS, I know I'd take a bit of interest in it, and there's probably alot of similar people like me.

Alright, he's being paid a bomb but apprantly the club have already, in a day, sold 1000 season tickets because of it. If you're worth that much to club you deserve your cut. Yeah he's a marketing icon, he'll sell a ton of shirts, but he's still a very good footballer. One of the best at dead ball situations though he's slower now if the game has any pace - he certainly will struggle tracking back but his effort is always an A.

His academy is in the US, and I think LA anyway, that must have had a major part on his decision too. I seriously wish him all the best and think it is the best move for him.

I agree with Turi.

The wanker.

Yeah, it's at the same stadium as where the Galaxy plays, even. So I'm sure it did have some effect on his decision. That, and the small matter of $250 million.


Who? Turi or Beckham? Or both?

In England we class that as flirting.

I just don't see how one man, past his prime as you all have pointed out, will make a difference here in the U.S. Large amounts of kids grow up playing soccer in their local city leagues including myself when I was young, but we all seem to be fans of the more popular sports like Baseball, Basketball and American Football. I don't understand why that is, but I don't think Beckham is going to change anything even though I would like to see the sport become more popular here.

OMG He is sooooooooooooooooooo hot lolol Posh is so lucky!!!!1 OMG and we r soooooooo lucky 2 b/c now we get 2 see him all the time loloolol!!!11

.. Blech. Why can't you guys keep him? Oh well, it doesn't really affect me anyway. I rarely watch MLS.. strictly EPL for moi.

Yeah I've heard about the deal, hell it's damn near impossible NOT to hear about it.

But from my perspective at least, who cares? I sure as the hell don't. As I hate soccer it's about as boring as watching paint dry.

You're getting a bit too good at this. Recently I saw someone write this: "lolz". What the hell is that? It's not even an acronym anymore, unless the Z stands for something. Like "I'm laughing out loud, Zia!" Or is it supposed to make it plural? Why would you need more than one? Is it meant to represent the above "loloollol", when they add a whole bunch and throw in extra letters? What is it, you're typing too fast to backspace, at this point? I don't know, I'm at a loss. It's getting out of hand, this teenage retarded internet-speak.

I bet "Posh" uses it too. And... we're back. There ya go, full circle.

Actually, I'd rather watch 'soccer' over the NHL, golf, tennis, the regular season of the NBA(even though I love the Pistons) and Nascar. I still dont get why millions of people watch cars make left turns for three hours. Maybe its just a 'southern thing' I think most American just give it a chance and just bash it after not really seeing s good league like La Liga or the EPL for example.

And if this brings more fans to the MLS, then it did its job and it was a good move.

Can he defect and play for the US in World Cup?

This would draw a great laughter from me.

Shit guys, even when David Beckham was in his prime, he was the world's most overrated football player.

Beckham was a good player, but hes mostly famous for...well, for being famous...than his playing skills. I mean, you have an international following that's insane. Take some women in Japan that dye or cut their pubic hair to whatever hairstyle Beckham is doing now. Now that's crazy fandom(not including those Latin American fans that shoot players that botch a kick).

So comparing him to Michael Jordan is silly, and an ESPN analyst kept saying how it'll be like Pele coming to America.

WRONG!

First, Pele was the shit. Second, when he came to America, he created a brief 3-year period where the NASL(right?) was slightly popular, with many kids in America actually inspired to play football because of Pele. The problem was, he was very old, and after his contract was done up, he retired for good, and whatever advantages he gave to "soccer" in America, it went kaput.

BTW Turi, a regular season NFL game is gonna play at Wembley in 2007. Get your tickets fast!

Thats if the stadium is built in time,should be OK if its late 2007

I can relate to your point concerning NASCAR, I have a friend a cousin, & an Aunt who can sit and watch an entire race. Not me like you watching a bunch of men constantly making left turns doesn't thrill me at all. I'll pay attention to see who won a race, but that's all. I can't watch an NBA game either at least not all the way through. I'll watch bits and pieces but that is it. Baseball is in the same league as soccer boring as hell.

However I'm perfectly able to sit through an entire NHL game or an NFL game.

Mr Ferguson doesn't need him what so ever though does he? As Cristiano Ronaldo is the best winger in the world.

Better players have gone to America and failed to make an impact, Pele, Moore and Best. He's past it, he can't run, he can't tackle, he can't take players on, he can only do something from dead ball situations, wow $250 million for a man that can only do something from a dead ball situation.

If I remember right,MLS was only paying $400,000.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6253829.stm