....Beckham and his $250mil move to the LA Galaxy as well as Borat's (Sasha Baron Cohen) Golden Globe, let me post an interview from a few years back where Ali G gives it to Posh and Becks for a good cause....Booya Shacka!
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Spend it like Beckham
Unless you're living under a rock or could care less about sports, then you know that one David Beckham has left the fame of Europe and has signed with the LA Galaxy of the MLS to the tune of 5 years for $250milion....for a soccer fan like me all I can say is WOW! Some are poo-pooing the deal as hype and no big deal for the US but I think it's more than that. Some are saying he won't make a difference because after all, the games greatest of all time, Pele, couldn't make it stick in the US but...
I heard a great take on this by one of the World Soccer Daily boys where he said that the landscape of soccer and sports in the US is 180 degrees different than when Pele came to the US and the NASL.
In the 70's, the game was STRICTLY a game played by immigrants. There was little to no Youth Soccer. The US National team was a JOKE in CONCACAF and beyond and the women's game was non-existent. Our men's team had not qualified for a World Cup in DECADES. NO US born players were playing in Europe. There was no TV coverage AT ALL for the game. No cable TV. No Dish or Direct TV. No internet. So Pele was fighting a losing battle when he came to build the sport. And while they didn't establish the sport on their own, they got the ball rolling....
Flash forward to today. The MLS is a 10 year old league and is stable. There are Soccer Specific Stadiums popping up all over the place. Millions of kids play the sport in a highly organized and structured system The Men's National Team has qualified for every World Cup since 92. We've hosted a Men's and 2 Women's World Cups. Our Women's team is a world power and our men's team is one of the 2 best teams in CONCACAF. We have US players playing and being sold to Europe. The immigrant population of the 60's and 70's are producing second and third generation Americans who play and follow the sport. There is a satellite Radio network playing English and Champions League games also with THREE talks shows dedicated to the game. As for Cable and Satellite, forget about it. If you have DirecTV with their sports package and Setanta Sports, you can watch nearly every EPL game imaginable. Along with any Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and German match worth a damn. Not to mention every Hispanic league in the Western Hemisphere from Guatemala to Argentina is available. There is Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool, and Arsenal TV available. ESPN and Setanta show every Champions League match live or on same day delay. UEFA Cup is available. Copa Libretadores. The Copa America. The 2008 European Championship rights were just bought by ESPN. The World Cup in HD. So not only can I play the game here as a kid, but I can pick any major European team and watch all their games all year long in every league, trophy, and major regional championship they play in. Not to mention the Internet has made every stat and story available to the US Soccer fan in REAL TIME and not dependent on some old school soccer hating newspaper editor. That's the landscape of soccer in the US. It's not "hidden" or "Out of sight", it's very much exposed and out in the open.
The fall of the NHL after their strike in the US has left a small void of the 4th team sport in the US just DYING to be filled by Soccer and the MLS. Of course the MLS is not going to overtake Basketball, Baseball of American Football any time soon but there is room for growth and room to make a sizable push to overtake Hockey as the dominant major niche sport in the US. Beckham will certainly help continue to push the growth of a sport that was all ready growing!
What Beckham will do is attract fans like me, along with the soccer newb. I'm a fan of the game being played at it's highest level. And for me, that's Europe. I know the teams and I know the names. I support and follow the US National team and I follow our players overseas. BUT there is no MLS team in Seattle and therefore, I could give a crap about the MLS and therefore do not watch it too much or follow it. But that's going to change now. I will record Galaxy games this summer. I'm planning a trip to LA this summer to see Beckham and the Galaxy. They have my attention now. If they add to that appeal by signing the likes of Ronaldo and Figo to other teams, then that would cause my interest to go up even further. It would help if there was a team in Seattle but still, my interest is there now.
The elements are all in place to start a soccer "fire" in the US and this Beckham deal may have been the match to set it off....
I heard a great take on this by one of the World Soccer Daily boys where he said that the landscape of soccer and sports in the US is 180 degrees different than when Pele came to the US and the NASL.
In the 70's, the game was STRICTLY a game played by immigrants. There was little to no Youth Soccer. The US National team was a JOKE in CONCACAF and beyond and the women's game was non-existent. Our men's team had not qualified for a World Cup in DECADES. NO US born players were playing in Europe. There was no TV coverage AT ALL for the game. No cable TV. No Dish or Direct TV. No internet. So Pele was fighting a losing battle when he came to build the sport. And while they didn't establish the sport on their own, they got the ball rolling....
Flash forward to today. The MLS is a 10 year old league and is stable. There are Soccer Specific Stadiums popping up all over the place. Millions of kids play the sport in a highly organized and structured system The Men's National Team has qualified for every World Cup since 92. We've hosted a Men's and 2 Women's World Cups. Our Women's team is a world power and our men's team is one of the 2 best teams in CONCACAF. We have US players playing and being sold to Europe. The immigrant population of the 60's and 70's are producing second and third generation Americans who play and follow the sport. There is a satellite Radio network playing English and Champions League games also with THREE talks shows dedicated to the game. As for Cable and Satellite, forget about it. If you have DirecTV with their sports package and Setanta Sports, you can watch nearly every EPL game imaginable. Along with any Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and German match worth a damn. Not to mention every Hispanic league in the Western Hemisphere from Guatemala to Argentina is available. There is Chelsea, Man U, Liverpool, and Arsenal TV available. ESPN and Setanta show every Champions League match live or on same day delay. UEFA Cup is available. Copa Libretadores. The Copa America. The 2008 European Championship rights were just bought by ESPN. The World Cup in HD. So not only can I play the game here as a kid, but I can pick any major European team and watch all their games all year long in every league, trophy, and major regional championship they play in. Not to mention the Internet has made every stat and story available to the US Soccer fan in REAL TIME and not dependent on some old school soccer hating newspaper editor. That's the landscape of soccer in the US. It's not "hidden" or "Out of sight", it's very much exposed and out in the open.
The fall of the NHL after their strike in the US has left a small void of the 4th team sport in the US just DYING to be filled by Soccer and the MLS. Of course the MLS is not going to overtake Basketball, Baseball of American Football any time soon but there is room for growth and room to make a sizable push to overtake Hockey as the dominant major niche sport in the US. Beckham will certainly help continue to push the growth of a sport that was all ready growing!
What Beckham will do is attract fans like me, along with the soccer newb. I'm a fan of the game being played at it's highest level. And for me, that's Europe. I know the teams and I know the names. I support and follow the US National team and I follow our players overseas. BUT there is no MLS team in Seattle and therefore, I could give a crap about the MLS and therefore do not watch it too much or follow it. But that's going to change now. I will record Galaxy games this summer. I'm planning a trip to LA this summer to see Beckham and the Galaxy. They have my attention now. If they add to that appeal by signing the likes of Ronaldo and Figo to other teams, then that would cause my interest to go up even further. It would help if there was a team in Seattle but still, my interest is there now.
The elements are all in place to start a soccer "fire" in the US and this Beckham deal may have been the match to set it off....
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