http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=399456&cc=5901

1/11/2007 10:07:40 AM

huge, huge, HUGE if it works out

1/11/2007 10:09:29 AM

still don't care

1/11/2007 10:11:06 AM

confirmed by AP... he will play MLS

1/11/2007 10:13:22 AM

Finally, MLS can start getting some credibility.

1/11/2007 10:43:10 AM

i guess this means the MLS got rid of that salary cap...

1/11/2007 10:56:04 AM

any of the contract details disclosed

1/11/2007 10:57:04 AM

^^ MLS has an NBA-type (very loose restrictions) salary cap. Only $400k per year of Beckham's salary counts against the cap.

New York Red Bulls fan. This is great for MLS any way you cut it. There are like 20 different news sites in the U.S. reporting this. A risk to be sure, as New York got burned with Lothar Matthaeus in 1999, but I think it is worth the risk for the exposure. Beckham is not the best player in the world, but he's one of the most-known players in the world and has a large fanbase for better or worse. In the one place in the world where Beckham is known more as Mr. Posh Spice than David Beckham, this can help him as far as marketing. In the past year, he setup a soccer academy in L.A. also, and this can only help that side of his business.

More info, go here: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=461401

[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 11:06 AM. Reason : /]

1/11/2007 11:03:17 AM

up to $250 mil over 5 years

1/11/2007 11:21:36 AM

no one is worth that much

1/11/2007 11:25:40 AM

That can't be right...I can't fathom any type of Soccer franchise from the MLS to spend that type of $Texas

1/11/2007 11:29:58 AM

how can MLS afford this?

1/11/2007 11:30:22 AM

Alex Rodriguez says thats a lot of money

1/11/2007 11:35:15 AM

Quote :

"no one is worth that much"

if he can make mls profitable, then he is worth it to them, no?

1/11/2007 11:36:35 AM

im just saying, no one should be paid that much money for playing sports

teachers live check to check in most cases and someone that kicks a ball already has enough money to ever spend in 2 lifetimes lives life with out much care

1/11/2007 11:41:49 AM

this is like the pele to the ny cosmos deal!

1/11/2007 11:42:17 AM

oh God here come gunzz guilting everyone into leaving this thread.

[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 11:42 AM. Reason : .]

1/11/2007 11:42:50 AM

what the fuck are you talking about

1/11/2007 11:43:44 AM

People who say athletes are overpaid obviously are kicking themselves in the head because they don't know how it all works in the world.

So gunzz you think Bill Gates or Steve Jobs shouldn't get all the money they get either? Why don't you go out there and gain -good- popularity with the people and they might just reward you. But if there weren't so many ___ pricks out there Beck'm or Gates wouldn't be all that special now would they?

[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 12:05 PM. Reason : GUNZ IS A GOLDEN GOD AND HE RULES THE GALAXY....LOL]

1/11/2007 11:46:42 AM

But I still think it's a high price.



[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 12:05 PM. Reason : get it?? lololol]

[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 12:06 PM. Reason : (rules the galaxy..lol) in case you missed it. anybody hinting the sarcasm.. lol buyaaa]

1/11/2007 11:47:48 AM

if he can use star power to bring a europe like fanbase to an american team... the mls will make out much the better half in this deal.

1/11/2007 11:52:54 AM

Quote :

"People who say athletes are overpaid obviously are kicking themselves in the head because they don't know how it all works in the world"

what an idiotic statement

gg Rat, you just became the retard of the day.

that post doesnt make any since at all and comparing bill gates to beckham
its like comparing apples to oranges

1/11/2007 12:24:06 PM

i bet mls would help L.A. pay that money just to help with ratings and sponsors... thats how he COULD be worth that much

and GOD THATS A LOT OF MONEY!!!

[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 12:29 PM. Reason : just had to talk about the $$$]

1/11/2007 12:26:19 PM

that'swhat I was getting at with my post

1/11/2007 12:28:01 PM

He's pretty hot.

1/11/2007 12:28:29 PM

He isn't overpaid if they are willing to pay him that and they can afford to. If he makes MLS a profitable enterprise, he will have been worth the money.

I'm sorry, but gunzz, you were the one making retarded comparisons when you decided to compare soccer players to teachers. Supply and demand.

1/11/2007 12:58:50 PM

the funny thing is, is that leagues such as the NFL and NBA are better for having salary caps. however, because the MLS is still fighting for recognition here in the states, getting rid of a salary cap would probably help the league gain more momentum than it already has. The league isn't strong enough like other leagues (NFL, NBA) here in the states and a salary cap just pushes good home-grown talent overseas. The world of soccer is too competitive worldwide, and unfortunately a salary cap in the MLS will need to be lifted in order for it to become one of the most competitive soccer leagues in the world. This one player exemption rule is a good start, but if the MLS seriously wants to be one of the premier leagues in the world, they have to allow big market cities such as LA and NY to buy talent that other cities can't afford.

The only problem that other countries have is that each league notoriously has two or three teams that are in serious contention every year and the rest of the league is a race for 2nd or 3rd place, however, the US has enough big market cities to where that actually may not be as big a problem and the competition may be varied enough to where it's not the same teams year in and year out.

1/11/2007 1:09:57 PM

dear mr. posh,

bring rooney with you

thx,

axl

1/11/2007 1:10:28 PM

This is huge man, but the thing is, this is the MLS and i really don't give a damn.

1/11/2007 1:13:56 PM

Quote :

"i bet mls would help L.A. pay that money just to help with ratings and sponsors... thats how he COULD be worth that much and GOD THATS A LOT OF MONEY!!!"

The rumor was that Adidas would become the shirt sponsor for the Galaxy (not just supplier, but sponsor) if Beckham came to them, and MLS rules stipulate that each individual team gets to keep money from their personal shirt sponsor and from replica jersey sales instead of sharing (to encourage investment by team owners and seeking out sponsors). I don't have official numbers but Beckham is the #1 jersey seller in the world generally. So the Galaxy will get a lot of revenue from those items.

The Galaxy are owned by Phil Anschultz. If any of you are familiar with the entertainment industry, you might've heard the company AEG, that's Anschultz. Anschultz is most known for organizing concerts and outdoors events in general. He has a ton of money, so financials are not a concern for him. He just sold D.C. United for $33 million to a D.C. area investment group (that included former Dookies Christian Laettner and Brian Davis), still owns the Chicago Fire and Houston Dynamo of MLS, his company operates some of the smaller stadiums around the league in Chicago and Los Angeles, will co-operate a NYC metro area stadium that will open in 2008 (which is lucrative for his concert business), and also owns the arena in Kansas City, the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and the L.A. Kings of the NHL.

1/11/2007 1:16:39 PM

MLS has struggled since the demise of NASL - it's going to take more than this i think

1/11/2007 1:17:59 PM

Quote :

"I'm sorry, but gunzz, you were the one making retarded comparisons when you decided to compare soccer players to teachers. Supply and demand"

what?

Quote :

"teachers live check to check in most cases and someone that kicks a ball already has enough money to ever spend in 2 lifetimes lives life with out much care "

teachers do live check to check in most cases....i dont see this as making a retarded comparison.
as a matter of fact, i dont see this as any comparison at all except for this one soccer player who gets paid 40 mil a year compared to most teachers who make less than 30k a year


Beckham, Jordan, James, AROD etc, are not worth this much money. athletes get paid too much money....period

1/11/2007 1:20:54 PM

will this mean that soccer will be even MORE popular than it already is in america.

i mean, i can't turn on tv without at least seeing 10 games.

bwa haha.

soccer in america

1/11/2007 1:25:25 PM

soccer will as popular as hockey

1/11/2007 1:28:03 PM

^^^So what you're saying is that the businessmen who own their teams should get all the money they bring in?

They money has to go somewhere...


And how is this any worse than actors like Tom Cruise making 50Mil for a shitty movie?

[Edited on January 11, 2007 at 1:31 PM. Reason : ]

1/11/2007 1:29:07 PM

WORTHLESS sport.

utterly worthless. I'm sure this will work out perfectly for MLS. after all, they're market share is so huge already.

I wonder how many sell outs they have a year in those 55K+ arenas.

bwa haha.
soccer in america.

1/11/2007 1:34:00 PM

Quote :

"teachers do live check to check in most cases....i dont see this as making a retarded comparison. as a matter of fact, i dont see this as any comparison at all except for this one soccer player who gets paid 40 mil a year compared to most teachers who make less than 30k a year Beckham, Jordan, James, AROD etc, are not worth this much money. athletes get paid too much money....period"

American society values sports more than education. Deal with it or move to Mexico.

1/11/2007 2:03:23 PM

if someone is able to bring in $100 million dollars, then they are worthy $50 million at least. so i would not agree that some athletes aren't worth millions and millions of dollars.

unfortunately you can't judge teachers' salaries in this way. so gunzz has a semi-valid point in that teachers should probably be paid more. but i think athletes should be paid what owners think that they are worth to the team. (even if it is something exhorbitant like $250 million)

1/11/2007 2:10:40 PM

Quote :

"what an idiotic statement gg Rat, you just became the retard of the day. that post doesnt make any since at all and comparing bill gates to beckham its like comparing apples to oranges"

glad somebody cares!

gg gunnz as always

1/11/2007 2:14:15 PM

Salary breakdown. The Galaxy are paying not as much as they were made out to be. The $250m was total compensation from everything:

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

Quote :

"I understand his yearly income from next season, when he leaves Spain for America, will be: An annual salary of $10m His existing sponsorship contracts with his four sponsors - Motorola, Pepsi, Gillette and Volkswagen - are estimated to be worth $25m His merchandising shirt sales will bring in $10m His share of the club profits: $10m That adds up to $55m. Multiply it by five and you get well over $275m."

Following is an explanation of the main reason why the Galaxy offer appealed to him. He wanted full image rights instead of just half (i.e. when he appeared on any commercial or bit of advertising, RM got half the money, regardless of substance of the ad; this was a big moneymaker for them)

Quote :

"Quote: Originally Posted by profiled Apprently at madrid 50% of the money he earned from his image (i.e. being in Pepsi, and Adidas commercials) went to Madrid. It's been reported he was earning about 44 million$ a year, 22 of which went to madrid. So I think they're throwing around that number to either make the deal seem more amazing then it really is, and by suggesting that somehow the Galaxy could have taken all of his image rights, and thus giving the image rights to him are in effect "paying" him 44 million more a year. I wasn't even aware a team could own the image rights to a player, so I'm guessing it's a European thing (maybe even just spain). It's pretty much a standard Euro thing. None of the big clubs will break ranks on that stance....if they do, the doors are open. The big clubs all stick together behind the scenes. They got a good thing and they know it."

1/11/2007 3:31:59 PM

hopefully he'll set a trend,

i wouldnt at all be suprised if MLS is the place to be for the top soccer stars in 5 years or so

1/11/2007 4:12:35 PM

ANOTHER SELFISH OVERPAID THUG ATHLETE WHO ONLY CARES ABOUT MONEY

1/11/2007 4:13:23 PM

^ I don't think many would call him a thug. And he has a tremendous work-rate.

1/11/2007 4:15:20 PM

1/11/2007 4:38:07 PM

Quote :

"MLS has struggled since the demise of NASL - it's going to take more than this i think"

uhhhhhhh



NASL went down the shitter in 1984. MLS started in 1993.



This is a great move for the MLS in general. On the field, David Beckham is garbage. In magazines, on TV, and elsewhere, he's a Michael Jordan-sized behemoth.

1/11/2007 5:57:23 PM

I hate when people say athletes are paid too much. Though there are athletes making more than their worth (Adonle Foyle, Bonds, Webber)....the market generally decides what these athletes are worth to franchises.

The example "teachers make nothing" is always used. That irritates the hell out of me too. Teachers do not make millions for a company. Teachers' salaries are determined by voters' concerns. Technically, their market worth. They make very little compared to other college graduates, but for what they do.....they are alright.

Teachers and athletes are always compared and they never should be. They are not comparable in any facet.

1/11/2007 5:58:55 PM

This is sooo going to bomb. I played soccer and I hardly ever watch MLS games. I still tune in for the World Cup of course. But this will not make the average sports fan give 2 shits about MLS. This in fact may kill the MLS completely.

1/11/2007 6:21:54 PM

It's not for the average sports fan, it's for the people who don't know dick-all about soccer. That's why it's going to be super successful.

1/11/2007 6:27:25 PM

batistuta looks like he's gonna throw down in that pic.

Quote :

"ANOTHER SELFISH OVERPAID THUG ATHLETE WHO ONLY CARES ABOUT MONEY"

that quote got a laugh out of me. good job.

1/11/2007 7:24:00 PM

This is going to make the average sports fan tune into a soccer game.

Then realize how boring it is and vow to never watch again.

1/11/2007 7:29:42 PM