David Beckham

[The Magician]

Beckham comes to America, where he should sell better than soccer

By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Sports Columnist
July 10, 2007

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AkA8sTbgKWlJaVS8ieaHsAImw7YF?slug=ap-timdahlberg-071007&prov=ap&type=lgns

These types of articles are RUBBISH! :mad:

[Pounder]

Rubbish in what way? As a soccer fan, I tend to think the writer is half RIGHT as well as half wrong.

Becks is a star. There's large numbers of people who watch Tiger Woods and not the rest of golf, there were large numbers who wouldn't watch basketball without Michael Jordan, and so on and so forth. The article does give credence to star quality.

I should recall a mantra that a group of us fans of Portland Timbers developed when we were IN England last year: "Everything sounds more important in England." The part of the article I might bristle at the most is that Americans are somehow swayed by the hype. I argue that the English are even bigger hypemeisters, at a minimum, which is why so many Americans are actually turned off to the "Euro vibe."

(Recall Alexi Lalas' comments recently? He was answering the British press. Mind you, he's always been a little cuckoo, but I guarantee you this was on his mind when he said what he said about Becks going to be bigger than Tiger and Michael. I don't buy that one, frankly, but I'm pretty sure I'd fail to keep my cool with the London tabloids, too.)

Having said that, there's another philisophical question worth asking.

Is MLS targeting this for the Americans ESPN is trying to reach?

Or is MLS targeting this for the people who sell out stadia when Manchester United or Barcelona or AC Milan or CD Guadalajara have a training match in the states?

I think MLS might have sold ESPN on the former (for which ESPN is running a bit of an ad campaign), but they're really looking for the latter. As Ty Keough would say, this will be "interesting." The interesting part is how big that second population is. It DOES exist, it does sell out Giants Stadium and Lincoln Financial and Soldier Field... and we don't know yet if they will seek out Home Depot and Toyota Park and soon-to-come Red Bull Park for Becks and Cuahtemoc Blanco and Juan Pablo Angel. (Angel is putting up some numbers already) Stay tuned.

Another thing- it's not just Becks. If Hispanic fans buy into the Superliga competition, does MLS finally benefit from the fastest rising demographic in America? The article's shortcoming is the old assumption of black-n-white America when it's becoming rather brown in many ways.

[The Magician]

Rubbish in what way?

in the fact, that American Sportswriters who are not warm on soccer cannot come up with a piece of journalism that yields any credibility toward the assignment and write about what the sport of soccer is really all about.

The Press has been taking the same ...

"Will soccer ever make it in the USA?" articles and re-writing them over and over again, for the last 20 years, or more.

It's very irritating ... (STUDS UP!)

If stories are going to be written ... it needs to be done properly with respect to the sport.

If not ... don't write anything at all!

[freddy234]

everyone that loves soccer is excited about becks coming to mls. he is a star he is the beginning of the mls getting popular and bringing other european stars to compete in america with the mls. he is the mls' big break. becks is one of the most popular athletes in the world, if that doesnt bring poeple to games i dont know what will.

[Pounder]

Let's review the results to date:

@ Dallas (Superliga, and a scream of a game at 5:6) 21,576, sellout

@ Toronto, 20,522, sellout (to be fair, Toronto crowds are the revelation of the season... proving that downtown might be worth the investment)

@ DC, 46,686, and they say that's a sellout because seats are removed from the baseball alignment these days

@ New England, 35,402... many fans are put off by the Revs despite good form the last couple years?

@ New York, 66,237

Bring more stars over, apparently.

Of course, two Superliga games in LA did NOT sell out, with midweek dates and high priced tickets being issues (Pachuca, best team in Mexico, still not a draw). MLS still has to balance trying to play a high end game with an economy fan base.

Now, if you saw Becks goal in Superliga against DC (lovely dip, not just bend, on the free kick), touch, and measured hustle, he doesn't look like he's on vacation here. Even I'm stunned by the form.

[Fez]

But let's not forget the amazing LA-NY 5-4 game. Becks had a hand in the first 3 LA goals (two assists on set pieces) and looked great. Yes, he had a hell of a time getting his free kicks over the wall on that crappy field, but otherwise he played a big role in a fantastic game in front of 60k+ fans --most of whom were there for Beckham.