Soccer: David Beckham yesterday set out his vision to become "part of history" in transforming the landscape of American sport and making football a mainstream concern in the States.
Beckham signed a deal for five years on Thursday that takes him to Major League Soccer's (MLS) LA Galaxy this summer. Though the timetable is not expected to allow him to move until July or August, his first act yesterday was to introduce himself to the public with an interview on the ABC network's Good Morning America show.
Beckham's contract will ensure that he earns $250 million after his four-year spell with Real Madrid comes to an end. But the former England captain insisted the extraordinary finances of the deal, the most valuable ever awarded to a footballer, were not a consideration.
"Of course it's a huge amount of money . . . it's an amazing amount of money," Beckham said. "(However) I said yesterday - and some people laughed at me - but this move for me is not about the money. It's about hopefully making a difference in the US with the soccer, and that's what I'm going there for.
"I'm going for the life of course, for my kids to enjoy it and my wife to enjoy it, but the main thing for me is to improve the soccer and to improve the standard and to be part of history, really."
That Beckham could singlehandedly inject credibility into a sport that has never converted its enormous grassroots participation into a genuine elite league would seem a considerable conceit. But Beckham expects the exploitation of his profile to tap the potential of football in the US.
He already puts his name to the David Beckham academy linked to LA Galaxy, a sister operation to that sited at the Millennium peninsula in Greenwich. "I think soccer can be a lot bigger in the US," he said. "I think there's a huge improvement to be made, and if I can be part of that then I want to be. From a young age kids are brought up with soccer and then they seem to go into other areas. Hopefully that's what I'll be there for, to pass my experience on to them."
Beckham hopes that his presence will inspire American children not to abandon football in favour of baseball and gridiron as soon as they approach their late teens, though he appreciates those sports' positions in the US hierarchy are unassailable.
His ambassadorial role will be assisted by what one associate described as "a massive advertising push" for the league at both local and national levels, of which he will be the figurehead. It is hoped that the extra gate revenues Beckham will generate will be augmented by an influx of new sponsors to MLS.
That will provide a return on the investment of Anschutz Entertainment Group, a principal MLS stakeholder which owns the Galaxy and provides financial support to Beckham's soccer academies. It is understood that Beckham was given no assurances that other high-profile European players will help him spread the MLS message but the "designated superstar" system is one that may catch on.
Ronaldo, the Brazil striker who has also fallen out of favour at Real Madrid under Fabio Capello, has been speculatively linked with a move to New York Red Bulls. Edgar Davids, the Tottenham midfielder, is known to be in talks with FC Dallas.
