A decade later Beckham ready to make more waves
LOS ANGELES: Ten years ago on Wednesday David Beckham rocked the soccer establishment when he turned his back on Real Madrid, the world’s most glamorous soccer club, and signed with Los Angeles Galaxy.
For a decade the tremors of that deal have rumbled through Major League Soccer and Tim Leiweke, the man who orchestrated what is perhaps the most significant signing in sport history, predicts the charismatic former England captain will soon be making shockwaves again -- as an owner.
“David was an impact moment for the league but it wasn’t our birth and it didn’t save us from death, but ... David allowed us to realise how big we could be,” Leiweke, now one of Beckham’s partners in trying to bring an MLS team to Miami, told Reuters.
“We went from surviving to conquering and David gave us that reputation, that belief and from that point on there was no question this league was going to succeed.
“But as big an impact as he had 10 years ago I continue to predict he is going to have as big an impact as an owner.”
Certainly Beckham’s emergence as the potential owner of a Miamibased MLS franchise dogged by setbacks has been muted compared to his rock star arrival in Los Angeles in 2007.
“David Beckham wil l have a greater impact on soccer in America than any athlete has ever had on a sport globally,” Leiweke, the then- president and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, the Galaxy’s corporate parent, said at the time of the signing.
Leiweke, who is equal parts visionary and shrewd salesman, also proved to be a prophet.
The five- year deal to lure Beckham to the United States, one estimated at $ 250 million and including commercial opportunities and the rights to buy an MLS expansion team at a steep discount, was by most barometers worth every dollar.
By the time he played his final game in a Galaxy jersey in 2012 MLS was no longer regarded as soccer’s comfy retirement home and five years on the Beckham affect is still being felt as the league pushes forward with expansion plans.
In Beckham’s first season the average attendance at MLS games was 16,770 and last season it jumped to 21,692. This season will feature 22 MLS teams, up from 13 in 2007.
Toronto FC, which debuted in 2007, paid a $10 million expansion fee. The next round of expansion will be a minimum of $150 million per club while Beckham gets his for $ 25 million.
While the Miami team has no stadium and no name what it does have is the cache behind the Beckham brand that Leiweke believes once operating will make the South Florida club a magnet for some of the soccer’s marquee names.
“Is there anyone who is going to be better in the living room than David Beckham recruiting the next David Beckham,” asked Leiweke. — Reuters