What About Major League Soccer?

I know that there may be a few MLS fans out there, but I am not one of them. Watching MLS games is at times very brutal. Nothing about the flow of the game is smooth like the English Premier League or Serie A in Italy.

I shouldn’t downplay soccer in this country because the MLS has been in business for 14 years now. You can’t be in business that long and not be doing something right. As of right now, there are 14 teams with plans of creating two more teams by 2010.

What I have noticed over the past few years is that media coverage has increased. ESPN is leading the way when promoting MLS Primetime Thursday. As nice as it is to see, soccer will never be able to overtake Major League Baseball, the NFL (the other football), the NBA and NASCAR in popularity. Because of this upward climb that soccer faces, it will be a niche sport enjoyed by a select few who are loyal to the game.

And in case you have been living under a rock for the past year or so, the MLS has pinned its future on the right leg of David Beckham. You may or may not have heard of him and you may and may not care, but he is now the poster boy for the league.

After signing a five-year contract worth up to 250 million dollars with the L.A. Galaxy, there are high expectations for Becks. The initial return has been very mixed. Last year, he was injured and missed a lot of time. This year, he is healthy and has shown flashes of why he is still considered a very good soccer player. These flashes come every time that he or his skill is questioned. I would suggest that people stop wasting their breath.

For all the media attention and celebrity that Beckham and his wife, Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham, bring to the game, there is a cautionary tale that always resurfaces. In 1975, the North American Soccer League and the New York Cosmos tapped Pele to make soccer big in the States. While there was a three-year period where the Cosmos were relevant, soccer didn’t catch on. Over two decades later, absolutely nothing has changed.

On occasion, I tune in for a MLS game. Normally, I try and find a Galaxy game to watch Beckham. There is an utter fascination with watching him play at full strength. Nobody, and I do mean nobody, in all of soccer can place a better ball than Becks. He is a tremendous presence on the field that makes his teammates better.

The end result of this current attempt by soccer to be a major factor in American sports will come after five years when Beckham’s contract is finished. If it works, chalk it up to the MLS brass for landing the most marquee name in soccer. If not, I don’t think anyone will be surprised and lives will move on as normal.