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January 16, 2007

Soccer stories everywhere (and, of course, more on the Beckham signing)

Boy! The blog tries to take a couple days off and suddenly Lew Wolff and MLS are the talk of the town. There's been a media avalanche the last few days as everyone wants in on the latest stadium scuttlebutt, and the Beckham deal is still getting ink. Here's a wrapup:

- The San Jose Business Journal published a story on Friday headlined "Talks on 'joint use' soccer stadium may bear fruit in 60-90 days." We at SSV, who remember well the series of "60 to 90 days" announcements MLS and the Metrostars made over the course of several years about a New Jersey stadium deal that was perpetually almost complete, apologize for not instructing Lew Wolff to avoid use of the phrase "60 to 90 days" in association with a soccer stadium.

- KTVU (they go by "channel 2" among friends) sent reporter Diane Guerazzi to the South Bay to do a report on the San Jose State/Earthquakes stadium story. San Jose vice mayor Dave Cortese is interviewed, as is SSV's own Don Gagliardi.

- Finally, Ann Killion of the Mercury News checks in with a column chiding MLS for pursuing the David Beckham deal. Normally, we agree with Ann—we remember clearly how she supported the fans as AEG carried out their threat to move Dominic Kinnear and the boys to Houston—but in this case, we have to disagree.

We'll address her column point by point:

His arrival will do little for the development of soccer in this country, which was the mission statement of MLS. And which some of us still believe is the key to building long-term interest in the sport.

A lot of American soccer fans would like to see some of that $250 million plowed into player development, such as finding a better way to spot and develop players who aren't products of our elitist youth soccer system.

First off, only a small percentage of that $250 million will make up his playing salary. As this Reuters story says, "MLS sources say his annual playing income is only in the 'single-figure millions.'" The rest is coming from sponsors like adidas and Gillette, who will be paying Beckham big bucks for endorsements.

Moreover, MLS and its sponsors aren't offering Beckham the potential to earn $250 million because they like him—the money is an investment. They expect to make more money on the deal than what they're paying. Since the league's mission is to develop soccer in the U.S.—no, it hasn't changed despite Killion's use of the past tense above—some of the anticipated profit from the deal will go into the league's efforts to develop new American talent. The best example of this, of course, is the November directive from MLS for each team to develop its own youth academy:

The league announced its youth development initiative... Each MLS team will be required to set up a youth academy separate from the senior team and will be able to add to its academy youth players who live within that team's designated "home territory." After a player has been with an MLS youth team for a year, he may be signed to the senior club without having to enter the MLS SuperDraft. From 2008-2010, each team may sign up to two players from its youth academy.

"This vertically integrated player development system will strengthen our player pool and provide greater levels of on-field competition," (MLS Commissioner Don) Garber said. "We're going to have these young kids nipping at the heels of veteran players and pushing that competition.

"The first step is giving our teams the incentive to invest in these facilities so that ultimately we're building the infrastructure of not just the game professionally, but from a youth perspective, as well."

It's also worth noting that adidas already sponsors one of the league's most important youth development programs, Generation adidas.

Back to the column:

Here's one way his arrival is different than that of Pelé three decades ago: The New York Cosmos hired the best player in the world, whereas the Galaxy has hired the most famous player in the world.

Uh, no. Pelé came out of retirement at age 34 to join the Cosmos. He was the best in the world at one time, one of the best ever, but not at that moment. Pelé's status then would be analogous to an MLS signing of the recently retired Zinedine Zidane now—except, of course, Pelé never earned notoriety for head-butting an opponent in a World Cup final.

But Beckham's moment as the world's most famous athlete is near its end... That's because Beckham, 31, comes to Los Angeles basically out of other soccer options. He had already lost his place in the Real Madrid side (and was told this weekend that he won't ever play again for the club). The former captain of England, he's no longer playing for his country. MLS was the only league willing to shower him with money and love.

Beckham had lots of options besides joining the Galaxy. The European press reports that Italian powerhouses AC Milan and Inter Milan were trying to sign him, as were French clubs Marseilles and Lyon. (Just found a new story—ESPN Soccernet's Phil Ball says Barcelona was interested, too. Ronaldinho on the left, Beckham on the right would have made quite a midfield.) All but Marseilles routinely compete in the UEFA Champions League, so clearly lots of people thing Beckham is still capable of competing at that level.

As for the comment that he won't ever play again for Real Madrid, it seems to us at the blog like the Spanish team's management is positioning itself for a negotiation with MLS that would see Beckham join the Galaxy for the onset of the new season in April.

Beckham's job isn't to play soccer but to sell jerseys and elevate the league. He's a soccer event, like the World Cup in 1994, which drew a lot of interest but didn't create a large, devoted fan base.

And here's the real crux of the issue. The fact is that there is absolutely nothing that MLS could do which would create "a large, devoted fan base" overnight. Nothing. It doesn't work that way.

The story of soccer's growth in this country over the last 35 years has been one of slow, incremental growth. Pelé's signing by the Cosmos and his years in the league are a great example, as kids around the country first saw the sport in all its beauty and grandeur due to Pelé's presence. Some of those kids grew up to play on the 1990 U.S. National Team, which got our country into the World Cup finals for the first time in 40 years. Many of those players went on to great careers in MLS and inspired a further generation of youth soccer players—guys like Clint Dempsey, who had just turned 13 when MLS started and has now, as Killion points out, been purchased for $4 million to play for Fulham FC in England. The fan base has grown the same way, and the 1994 World Cup was an important event in that timeline.

This is why Killion's criticism is so off-base. If MLS had been doing nothing else to grow the sport, signing Beckham would be a desperate grab at the stars, a plea for attention from a dying enterprise. But that's not nearly the case. MLS and its owners are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into stadiums, building bridges to youth soccer, and devoting substantial resources to player development. It takes all of those things to build a league and they are doing it.

Bringing David Beckham to America is the league's way of saying, 'Hey, everybody, we're ready for our close-up.' Lots of people will come to see the big celebrity player, sure, but some of them will find much more: a sport and a league that's deserving of their attention. And that's how this thing will grow.

Posted by Jay at January 16, 2007 05:45 AM

Comments

Posted by: EightyTwo at January 16, 2007 12:23 PM

Posted by: randyvice at February 13, 2007 08:24 AM