Beckham's Glamour Due Here

Suddenly, big-time glamour has come to American soccer. With the announcement yesterday by Major League Soccer that it has signed English star David Beckham to a five-year contract reportedly worth $250 million, both league and sport have undoubtedly taken a quantum leap upward in visibility and viability on the professional sports scene.

It's not about the money — those are the words of both Beckham and Tim Leiweke, the President of AEG, which owns the Los Angeles Galaxy and will be paying Beckham his salary. "It is my understanding that Beckham had better offers from other places," said Leiweke. Beckham himself stressed that what decided him on moving to America was the challenge of something new: "I've played for Manchester United and Real Madrid, two of the world's top clubs. Now I need another challenge."

Beckham's show-biz style presence is boosted by his famous marriage to Victoria Adams, once known as Posh Spice of the Spice Girls. The couple seem made for life in Los Angeles. The Beckham effect has already been felt there: Leiweke claimed that, within hours of the announcement of Beckham's signing, the Galaxy had sold more than 1,000 new season tickets.

Most of the millions headed Beckham's way will come from his commercial involvements — with companies such as Gillette, Pepsi, and Adidas. But MLS and the Galaxy also stand to profit from Beckham's immense appeal as a marketing idol — a deal for advertising to appear on Galaxy shirts may well be the first example.

MLS commissioner Don Garber, citing an ESPN Poll that showed 76% of respondents saying they would now have more interest in the league, said that the Galaxy would go on tour to potential expansion cities.

But the Beckham effect also has major global ramifications. "This move will raise our profile overseas," said Garber. "In the past 24 hours we've received more attention from international media than we've ever received."

Beckham's popularity is at its highest in Asia, a point that has not escaped Leiweke's attention: "We're working on an Asian tour for the Galaxy, probably in the spring of '08."

Inevitably, comparisons are being made with the signing of Pelé by the North American Soccer League in 1975. The MLS prefers to play down the similarities — after all, the NASL collapsed in 1984. "Much of what we've done in MLS," says Garber, "has been aimed at not repeating the failures of the NASL." A theme echoed by Leiweke: "We have much more stable growth than the NASL had. They did not have an infrastructure."

While there can be no doubting Beckham's positive effect on MLS from the marketing and exposure angles, his effect in a purely soccer sense — the impact he will make on the playing field — is much more debatable.

Beckham's fame — which is largely fame based on being famous — has far outstripped his performances as a player. He has been with Real Madrid for three years, during which time the club has won nothing — the longest period in the famous club's history during which it has failed to capture any trophies.

Beckham has lately been unable to hold down a starting role on the team — it is not an exaggeration to say that he has been a resounding flop during his time at Real. It is that awkward fact that made the renewal of his contract there unlikely, and that has forced him to make the move away from Madrid.

By moving to MLS, Beckham is joining a league where the caliber of play is clearly a notch or two below the level played in Spain. Which will make Beckham a more valuable player for the Galaxy than he was for Real — it is impossible to imagine coach Frank Yallop keeping him on the bench.

The soccer skills that Beckham brings are not particularly flamboyant ones: no spectacular dribbles, not much goal scoring, but excellent crossing of the ball and dangerous swerving free kicks.

Skills not to be sniffed at, but problems lurk here. The Galaxy is a poor team. "We hope to be a much better team than we were last year," are the words of general manager Alexi Lalas — the least he could say, given that it did not even make the playoffs. It currently possesses only one player, Landon Donovan, of the caliber of Beckham's former teammates.

Beckham joins MLS as a "designated player" — one whose salary is outside the league's salary cap rules. But those very rules will make it extremely difficult for the Galaxy to greatly strengthen its team for next season.

Hence the problem: For Beckham to have a lasting effect, he needs to be a part of a winning Galaxy team. But without an adequate supporting cast on the Galaxy, his skills will be underutilized.

Beckham's arrival is a massive step forward for MLS at the promotional level. In soccer playing terms, its impact is likely to be considerably less dramatic.

pgardner@nysun.com