Do you think Beckham's move to LA will increase North American interest in soccer?

[Mexican Jumping Bean]

I think it might. It's a fun sport to watch, and I'm always suprised by how little Americans down south seem to care about the sport. There's always the inevitable comparison to American football, which is really unfair as they're almost completely unrelated.

[munsifn]

It probobly will.
I'm not a huge soccer fan, but when the World Cup or Euro Cup were on, I watched it regularly...I'm guessing with more and more coverage, it will catch on eventually.

[Mexican Jumping Bean]

I think it will have a very short term impact. Just look at Pele and how successful that stint went. Soccer will remain dead in North America.

[elty]

it is very hard to overcome the bias to soccer in North America. If people watch the game because of 1 person, chances are it is a fad more than anything.

[Mexican Jumping Bean]

:lol: at all the people tuning into the game. Especially the ones that paid to be there in person. He's still sitting on the bench.

[canabiz]

I don't think it will, Beckham is as much a celebrity as a soccer player...and don't get me started on his wife, Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice

There's rumours a reason Beck is coming to LA is because he wants to have a Hollywood career, obviously Beck denies it but never say never.

The topic about why soccer is not popular in North American has been debated to death and I won't go there but I would simply like to say that if Pele didn't succeed in making soccer popular here, it's unlikely nobody else would.

Cheers!

[Mexican Jumping Bean]

I don't think it will, Beckham is as much a celebrity as a soccer player...and don't get me started on his wife, Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice

There's rumours a reason Beck is coming to LA is because he wants to have a Hollywood career, obviously Beck denies it but never say never.

The topic about why soccer is not popular in North American has been debated to death and I won't go there but I would simply like to say that if Pele didn't succeed in making soccer popular here, it's unlikely nobody else would.

Cheers!The only thing that Beckham and the MLS has in common is that he so happens to play soccer.

His move to North America is for his wife to go Hollywood. No for him to play soccer.

[ephemera]

Soccer will never be popular in north America. Look at the trouble the NHL has had trying to get americans to care about Hockey!

[trinh]

A BIG NO NO

No real teams want him in Europe, so why not move to US and make some money. His career is over already.

[tkl]

My 2 cents worth.

It will NEVER be popular in N.America as long as those retards continue to fakes the non existent injuries.

Stupid shoot out to decide a game . Yes, NHL does that but at least there's real action during a game in terms of hitting, shooting, goaltending , passing, one timers etc. Plus shoot out does not decide a playoff game.

Stupid wanna be hoodlums in the crowds

******** off side rules.

Europeans are more interested in how he'll do the N.Americans.

[kevin01]

A BIG NO NO

No real teams want him in Europe, so why not move to US and make some money. His career is over already.

Umm, yes they did. It is just that he wont make 50 Million + a season over there. How is his career over, i dont understand. He is still a very good soccer player, not as good as before, but still good.

[kevin01]

My 2 cents worth.

It will NEVER be popular in N.America as long as those retards continue to fakes the non existent injuries.

Stupid shoot out to decide a game . Yes, NHL does that but at least there's real action during a game in terms of hitting, shooting, goaltending , passing, one timers etc. Plus shoot out does not decide a playoff game.

Stupid wanna be hoodlums in the crowds

******** off side rules.

Europeans are more interested in how he'll do the N.Americans.

and then fans get angry because Americans do not watch hockey.

It is whatever is fed to them, they will watch it. If AMERICAN football was only played in Europe, and no coverage in the U.S or Canada, trust me, nobody would pay attention.

[apvm]

They tried with Pele, don't think Buckham is much different.

I don't think it will, Beckham is as much a celebrity as a soccer player...and don't get me started on his wife, Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice

There's rumours a reason Beck is coming to LA is because he wants to have a Hollywood career, obviously Beck denies it but never say never.

The topic about why soccer is not popular in North American has been debated to death and I won't go there but I would simply like to say that if Pele didn't succeed in making soccer popular here, it's unlikely nobody else would.

Cheers!

+1

[Audiogenic]

Short Term Yes, Long Term No. Until the day that elite players in their prime play in North America (as oppose towards the tail end of their careers), you not see significant change.

[Bytown]

A BIG NO NO

No real teams want him in Europe, so why not move to US and make some money. His career is over already.

There wer estill teams that wanted him.However the max =he was beeing offered was $20 million.If you add everything up he will be $100 million a year.

[Izzoshady]

Short Term Yes, Long Term No. Until the day that elite players in their prime play in North America (as oppose towards the tail end of their careers), you not see significant change.

I agree with this completely. There will be a lot of buzz in the short term. Kind of like a honeymoon effect.

[maebach]

Beckham has already made an impact, never before has ESPN played a MLS game on one of their main channels

[Madchester]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEJ8m_MDaYU

A reasonable observation. Seriously ESPN can do much better than spelling bees and dog shows.

[akt921]

Yes if the Americans call this game "football".

[awesome-o]

I think the reason soccer won't take off is because it's very hard to make money from a sponsor standpoint. if you look at NFL, NBA, MLB, there are tons of opportunities for ad breaks, whereas soccer can be played in 45 continuous minutes before a stoppage.

all the MLS needs is a major TV contract, and everything will fall into place. this probably will not happen anytime soon, because Americans dislike soccer

[YnD]

IMO he only came to the USA to allow his wife to get her fame again in Hollywood... and yes hes making a huge payroll doing it....

[krash322]

Becks had quite a few European clubs after him still. He coulda went to Milan or back to England. He did neither becuz he didn't want to adjust to the Italian culture and he does not want to play for another English club out of his loyalty for Man Utd. If anyone watched him in La Liga this season, you would know he is still a top notch player that few other players can do. Real Madrid realized they made a mistake and begged him to come back. But it was too late cuz the Galaxy deal was done.

In terms of him making an impact, there certainly will be a big one in the short term. How MLS follows up in 5 years time will determine whether it will be a long term one. They need to attract more talent from the European leagues to sustain the momentum.

[Madchester]

As an aside, the LA David Beckham Academy's summer applications are thru the roof. I think the US just needs more homegrown superstars in order to sustain longterm interest in the sport. Americans tend to be indifferent towards sports where they don't dominate.

Just look at the way tennis has slowly fallen off the American media eye, with the dearth of quality American men's players. Back in the 80s and 90s with McEnroe, Connors, Samparas and Agassi, tennis seemed to be covered by all the major media outlets more regularly. It's embarrassing that ESPN's current Who's Now poll had Tony Parker beating Roger Federer... with the former being considered a more prominent athlete at the moment.