David Beckham to play for L.A. Galaxy

I am very leary of this move--it reminds me of how the old NASL did things, and they folded.

They need home grown talent, soccer-only stadiums, and proper loca promotion and support. The dumbest thing is the way the league ignores inner city folk, particularly recent and past immigrants from Latin America. They seem to mainly be aiming at the soccer mom crowd in the NYC area--that's one market, but there are tons of other fans the league is missing.
Here in DC, the league totally caters to the Immigrant population...On any given night, I'm willing to bet that over 1/2 the crowd is of Latin descent. It also helps that they play at RFK, which is very Metro friendly. And once the new ownership (hence how Beckham got his contract, the guy who owns the Galaxy, just sold the United to a bunch of Dukies) gets a stadium deal, it'll be a soccer only stadium that will totally rock.

The league has been around 10+ years, and has been successful. It's time to broaden the horizon, and signing Beckham will not only give the league global exposure, it'll bring more money into the league, to be able to develop homegrown talent.

as a huge fan of soccer, i would say this move is truely to put butts in the seats. beckahm is a good player but not great. he is one of the most noticed athletes in the world and kids love him , it will draw alot of attention and fan base.

I don't think it will...at least long term.

Professional soccer is just boring to Americans. We have the NFL and many other sports we'd prefer to watch. If bringing Pele to New York in the 70s didn't put soccer on the map, nothing will.

This may excite people who are already soccer fans, but it won't gain many if any new fans.

Beckham may become a celebrity in America because of his looks and his wife, much like an American Idol winner or actor...but he won't do anything for the sport.


They try and try, but soccer will never catch on big in this country.

I even gave it a chance when we had the World Cup in what, '94? We had an exciting (fun) team with Alexi Lalas, Coby Jones, Tony Meola and some others, but the games just bored me. The field is SO huge and most of the game was like watching a punt-fest in REAL football...just one team kicking the ball way down the field only to have the other team do it. Then, after a 90-minute scoreless tie, we go to a "overtime" where the clock runs backwards and may never end. Then, the announcer wakes you up with "GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!" and you see guys running around like their shorts are on fire. Later on the news, you hear about the drunken riots and the fires set in the streets in England and Germany because the USA won a game.

It's a great sport for kids to play and for other nations without the athletic talent and diversity that America has...but I'll stick with REAL football.

^^Actually American football isn't real football, its American football.


And I agree most Americans wont catch on to soccer, which is a shame.

It's a great sport for kids to play and for other nations without the athletic talent and diversity that America has...but I'll stick with REAL football.

Come on, dude ... America is not the only country with talent and diversity. In fact, we don't dominate ANY sports internationally.

Here in DC, the league totally caters to the Immigrant population...On any given night, I'm willing to bet that over 1/2 the crowd is of Latin descent. It also helps that they play at RFK, which is very Metro friendly. And once the new ownership (hence how Beckham got his contract, the guy who owns the Galaxy, just sold the United to a bunch of Dukies) gets a stadium deal, it'll be a soccer only stadium that will totally rock.

The league has been around 10+ years, and has been successful. It's time to broaden the horizon, and signing Beckham will not only give the league global exposure, it'll bring more money into the league, to be able to develop homegrown talent.

That's good to hear, BD. In NYC, it seems they went the other way with the "NY/NJ Metrostars". But now that they are the "Redbulls" perhaps they'll begin to tap into new markets. Plus, they are supposed to be building a soccer only stadium near Newark, in a pretty industrial area. It's very accessible by public transport, so hopefully, that will help.

Oh, yeah--Buster, can't say I agree with your "talent and diversity" comment. Other countries are already catching up in Basketball, which is very popular world wide; we didn't win the International baseball thing last year; we didn't get the gold medal in Hockey. And the odds of us EVER winning a soccer world cup are slim to none. So we're the best at American Football. And guess what? Australia is best at Aussie rules Football. And Ireland is best at Irish rules. Etc.

So you don't like soccer, fine. But to say the sport's popularity is somehow due to lack of talent and diversity is just wrong.

thats wrong dude...kinda funny talking about sticking with real football ,, well what some call soccer is actually the REAL FOOTball...its annoying how even though u seem to know nothing about football your quick to label it for kids and nations without athletic talent... i know nothing about u but i could just as easily call u a typical ignorant redneck...

almost pointless to try and discuss soccer here. everytime a soccer thread has come up someone goes on and bashes it for whatever reasons (wussy sport, only foreigners are good, whatever)

almost pointless to try and discuss soccer here. everytime a soccer thread has come up someone goes on and bashes it for whatever reasons (wussy sport, only foreigners are good, whatever)

Exactly why I didn't post the story when it broke.

If this guy wasn't overpaid, past his prime, and soccer didn't suck, i might actually care.