- 2 days ago
Whether you're a fan of football (Americans read soccer) or not, you've more than likely heard the name David Beckham. From the late '90s through the better part of the early 2000s, Beckham was a global sensation on and off the pitch. Whether it was the countless hairstyles, his marriage to one of the world's biggest pop stars, or simply his status as a sex symbol, Beckham was larger than life. Oh, and the bloke had one of the deadliest free kicks in the game.
Point is, Beckham could score goals and drive revenue wherever he went. But the goals started drying up after his move to Real Madrid, following years of success with Manchester United. As he neared the end of his contract in Madrid, Beckham became an afterthought. So he faced a crossroads: stick it out with Madrid, or test the market elsewhere. The dark horse option? Major League Soccer. A league that had nearly gone extinct just a few years earlier, viewed as a spot where international stars go to die.
Point is, Beckham could score goals and drive revenue wherever he went. But the goals started drying up after his move to Real Madrid, following years of success with Manchester United. As he neared the end of his contract in Madrid, Beckham became an afterthought. So he faced a crossroads: stick it out with Madrid, or test the market elsewhere. The dark horse option? Major League Soccer. A league that had nearly gone extinct just a few years earlier, viewed as a spot where international stars go to die.
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00:00Opposites don't always attract, but sometimes they lead to the greatest creations.
00:05Think peanut butter and jelly.
00:07Okay, so maybe they're not exactly opposites, but come on.
00:12A thick fluid paired with something that can barely hold its own shape, easily shaken.
00:17Stick with me for a second.
00:19In 2007, David Beckham was a star who transcended the sport of soccer.
00:24A household name, whether you knew him through footy or not.
00:28Peanut butter.
00:30By 07, Major League Soccer had only existed for 11 years, still severely struggling to find its footing.
00:37Jelly.
00:38So when a massive star lands in a floundering league, it looks like a recipe for disaster.
00:45But give it a chance, and it could lead to a pairing that becomes impossible to separate.
00:51David Beckham's decision to join Major League Soccer is a big deal.
00:59It can't be understated just how massive of a phenom David Beckham was.
01:04Sure, being absurdly handsome and marrying a Spice Girl certainly didn't hurt, but damn was the bloke deadly on the
01:11pitch.
01:13Debuting for Manchester United at just 17, Bex went on to compile one of the greatest resumes in English football
01:19history with the Red Devils.
01:21Success on the field set him up for even more fame often.
01:25Whether it was fashion ads, endless headlines about his hairstyles, or being dubbed a sex symbol who just happened to
01:32play a sport, one way or the other, you knew the name David Beckham.
01:37Shit, they made an entire movie inspired by his free kick technique, and he was too busy to even appear
01:44in it.
01:44However, longtime Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson felt the glitz and glam pulled his star away from football, leaving
01:52the tension between them that eventually spilled into the public.
01:56Following a 2003 FA Cup lost to Arsenal, Ferguson famously lost it and kicked the cleat across the locker room,
02:05cutting Bex over the eye.
02:07Beckham called it an accident, but the damage had already been done.
02:11Intense transfer speculation followed, prompting journalists to believe the club would sooner sack Ferguson than lose the absurdly popular Beckham.
02:20When the transfer window ultimately opened, Beckham found himself on a new squad, going from the biggest club in England
02:27to arguably the biggest in the world, joining Spanish giants Real Madrid.
02:32The move was a spectacle, and Beck's markability alone pushed Madrid into a different financial stratosphere.
02:40But the club's game plan of stacking the world's greatest stars never delivered the success expected.
02:45Behind the scenes, the organization was a mess, cycling through six different managers in just four years, and Beckham himself
02:54appeared to be approaching the twilight of his career.
02:57At 31 on the international stage, Beck swatched his country fall to Portugal on pins at the 2006 World Cup
03:04and was dropped from the England national team a month later.
03:07At the club level, it wasn't much better.
03:10Real Madrid manager, Fabio Capelo made it clear he had no use for Bex, bitching him frequently at the start
03:18of the season as Beckham entered the final year of his contract, leaving his future with the club uncertain.
03:24Earlier in 2006, Beckham fully expected to hang up his boots as a member of Madrid, denying that any thought
03:32of leaving had ever crossed his mind.
03:35As both sides entered contract negotiations, talk stalled over image rights percentages.
03:41With the official transfer window approaching in the new year, the point at which Bex would be free to talk
03:47to other clubs, it became clear his time in Madrid might be over.
03:53Set to turn 32, experts believe he was far from his peak, but his global fame alone was enough to
04:00attract serious interest.
04:03Which seemed to be exactly the case, but what were his options?
04:09Behind door number one, we know for a fact that Real offered a two-year extension.
04:15Beckham had undoubtedly fallen out of favor with the coach, but if you're the team president, of course you feel
04:22inclined to offer the lad who skyrocketed your club's value a contract rather than let him walk for free.
04:28But for David, just how enticing is it to return to a team that spent the better part of a
04:34year making it known they didn't want you on the field just to ride the bench as a sideshell?
04:40Behind door number two is what I can only describe as a clusterfuck of media speculation linking him to a
04:48Premier League return, a move to Asia, Italy,
04:51why the hell does a mostly failing league in the United States have interest, and on and on.
04:57Rumors flew around left and right, and whether they had any legitimate merit, the common denominator was simply the allure
05:04of adding a larger-than-life star like Beckham to your roster.
05:08As a global icon, countries that weren't even particularly keen on soccer, like Japan and Qatar, were reportedly linked to
05:15Beck's on name recognition alone.
05:17In Italy, Ender Milan was said to be a solid suitor because, get this, Beck's and his wife are stylish,
05:25so of course landing in one of the fashion capitals of the world made sense.
05:30Although, from a technical standpoint, Ender's technical director didn't quite buy into the buzz.
05:36Those slim-fit tunnel suits really would've hit, though.
05:40A return to the prim made the most logical sense.
05:43His home country, his roots, and a league he knew better than anyone after spending the majority of his career
05:50racking up accolades at Man United.
05:52A club so special to Beckham that he couldn't imagine rocking the gear of another Premier League side.
06:00Not that the triumphant comeback was ever really on the table, his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson was still rocky.
06:07So, never say never, as interest from other clubs in the league was very real.
06:13Though, media members wondered if he still had the juice to compete at the elite level, with most expecting a
06:19more middling club to be his realistic destination.
06:22Again, there was a ton of hearsay flying around, but one development quite literally came from an undercover investigation.
06:30Former English national manager Sven Euron Eriksson, the man who handed Beckham the captain's armband, got caught up speaking very
06:40matter-of-factly that he could persuade Beckham to join him at Aston Villa.
06:45It's an absurd story involving Euron Eriksson getting finessed by reporters posing as sheiks, but the manager firmly knew Beckham
06:53missed the land of bangers and mash and was tired of taking L's in Madrid.
06:58Now, this is all coming from a guy being a little too loose with the lips, but it speaks to
07:04just how close the two were.
07:05So much so, that when Eriksson was later rumored to take the reins at French club Marseille, Beckham's name was
07:12quickly linked there as well.
07:14Our boy Sven gets around, huh?
07:17But let's take Eriksson at his word for a second.
07:19If someone that close to Beckham knew he was homesick and tired of losing, then why was a club thousands
07:27of miles away, in a league barely a decade old, reportedly the frontrunner to land them?
07:33The Los Angeles Galaxy were Major League Soccer's crown jewel, but just how much did that mean in a league
07:39that nearly went extinct just a few years prior?
07:43It ain't the best look when league executives and top players don't even buy into the possibility.
07:50Plus, we've seen this story before.
07:52Back in the 70s, America tried to establish footy as a major sport when the North American Soccer League went
07:59after massive stars like Pele, drawing some attention before losing steam and folding entirely.
08:05Yet, the Galaxy War team repeatedly reported to be in the mix, an idea that also might have been sparked
08:12by Bex himself.
08:14On multiple occasions, Beckham had spoken openly about his interest in eventually landing in America.
08:20Let's focus on this for a second.
08:22Bex said this in April of 06, before he was dropped by the national team and benched by Madrid.
08:28I would assume those humbling moments fall into the category of things changing.
08:34California wasn't some foreign land to Beckham either.
08:37In 2005, the international star partnered with entertainment group AEG to establish a soccer academy in Southern California.
08:46Those partners also just happened to be the majority owners of the Galaxy.
08:51So, when LA's front office threw their name behind wanting Beckham, one of few clubs who publicly did sub-assides
08:59Madrid,
09:00and prior to the official transfer window at that, he wouldn't be blamed for thinking both sides had been cooking
09:07up a plan for some time.
09:09Hell, even the commissioner of the league was on board.
09:12Still, bringing Beckham to MLS was a pipe dream as the league didn't have the capacity to do so.
09:18Wait, wait, wait.
09:20You're telling me they created an entire rule in November 2006, named after Beckham, that would specifically allow teams to
09:30land players outside the salary cap?
09:33Huh.
09:34And he was willing to miss training with Madrid to jet over to Italy and watch his Hollywood friends Tom
09:39Cruise and Katie Holmes get married that same month?
09:42Where are your priorities, David?
09:46Anyway, just a day after Madrid and David's camp announced they were still weighing the revised two-year extension, Beckham
09:52made it official.
09:54His next chapter would be in La La Land.
09:57The guy who had built this legend across Europe's biggest stages had options on the table, but was ready for
10:03new pastures in LA.
10:04His decision left critics with no shortage of opinions.
10:08Some believed it was simply a cash grab.
10:11Others felt the move was a massive gamble for both sides, but if his mission to make soccer a household
10:17sport in America was genuine, then it could only be truly accomplished by committing to MLS.
10:23And others figured Beckham was simply hitting the sunset of his career, unwilling to take the ego hit of signing
10:29with a lesser European club, making America the path of least resistance.
10:34One of those believers was his own manager.
10:36After Beckham's announcement, Capello declared David's time at Madrid was finished.
10:43Then Madrid's club president took it a step further, calling Beckham a Hollywood wannabe with fading talent that no major
10:50club wanted anyway.
10:52Shit, tell us how you really feel, guys.
10:55However, Capello's tune changed a bit later in the season, as Beckham not only returned to the pitch, but also
11:01played a crucial role in leading Madrid to their first La Liga title since his arrival.
11:07Real's president had a change of heart as well, and even tried exploring options in Beckham's contract to bring him
11:12back, which Galaxy officials swiftly shut down.
11:16That summer, Beckham was officially off to LA.
11:20After finishing his tenure in Madrid strongly, proving he had plenty left in the tank, the question again arose as
11:27to why Beckham decided to go what was universally seen as an inferior league.
11:31The contract was inescapable.
11:34The reported $250 million were later revealed to be an inflated figure padded by several outside deals, with his actual
11:43yearly salary coming in much lower.
11:46However, the unique kicker in Beckham's contract was the ability to purchase a franchise for the low upon retirement.
11:54Naturally, people called bullshit, fixating on the big number and pointing out how a move to LA conveniently played well
12:01for his wife's ambitions too.
12:03But if David's goal was to truly grow the game in a country that didn't fully appreciate it, buying into
12:09the league from the inside sounds like a pretty smart play.
12:12However, his initial time in MLS was a mixed bag.
12:16He brought excitement to the league, but injuries sidelined him for his first couple of seasons, during which he played
12:22sparingly for LA.
12:23Then came the 2009 loan to AC Milan, which raised serious questions about his true commitment to the league.
12:31Was he genuinely invested in American soccer, or was he simply using MLS as a training ground to eventually return
12:38to the big boys in Europe?
12:39When he returned, Galaxy fans let him hear it.
12:44But as always, winning cures all.
12:47And when David later helped lead the club to back-to-back titles, all was forgotten.
12:53But taking a gamble to win more trophies in the fledgling league isn't what made this a big deal.
12:58Beckham's impact on MLS as a whole is the real story.
13:02Numbers don't lie.
13:04In just a 10-year span since his arrival, the league grew dramatically.
13:08More teams, more players, and more bread flowing into everyone's pockets.
13:16He transcended the sport, bringing more eyes to the game, which made bigger broadcast deals and a far greater worldwide
13:23presence.
13:24The decision to bend the salary cap rules to accommodate Beckham opened the door for international stars to follow,
13:30laying out a blueprint that soccer could not only survive in America, but thrive.
13:35And when he eventually bought a team of his own with Inter-Miami, he helped bring arguably the greatest player
13:41of all time to American soil.
13:44David Beckham's arrival in MLS stands as one of the most pivotal moments in the league's history.
13:49And that, without question, is a very big deal.
13:54I don't know if so.
13:59I don't know if it's for sure.
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