Gotta admit, not one bit.

Beckham's value to the Galaxy far exceeds his value to pretty much any other club in the world. It's nice to see him playing well and all, but he signed up with the Galaxy partially on the presumption of a role in building up the popularity of the MLS.

I'm also happy to see the Galaxy take a line on this one, quite rightly pointing out that his value to them is higher than 5 million pounds. The MLS is improving, and will continue to improve by luring faded stars (for name appeal, in the tradition of the Cosmos) and retaining their good young talent (their very good and better young talent will leave, but that's unavoidable really).

£65.7 pounds lost in the past financial year, £23 of which is to fired manages/coaches, and that doesn't even include Scolari! Unbelievable. (Of course, they always lose money, and this is way down from the £140 a few years back, but that loss was presumably a lot more easily borne when Russian oil was booming and the economy was not in this condition).

At the very least, they'll have to make good on their promise to finance all purchases through the club, and not from Abramovich's pockets.

Just found this thread.

I'll go autobiographical to illustrate a couple of points.

I was born in 1956 and the first real awareness I had of soccer came in 1967.

The 1966 World Cup had just happened and it was an era when it was plausible to start up new sports leagues in the US (AFL in 1960, ABA in 1967, WHA a few years later, etc.).

There were actually two start-up soccer leagues and one of them was the NPSL, which had a game of the week contract on CBS with the late great Jack Whittaker handling play by play.

I was immediately taken with the sport and I lived in suburban Connecticut and went to the biggest sporting goods store looking for a soccer ball. And couldn't find a real soccer ball. That's how obscure the sport was in all but the immigrant ethnic areas at that time.

Within 15 years, the Cosmos were selling out Giants Stadium.

By the late 70s I had a job as a school custodian in another suburban town and the fields outside the school were filled with young children--boys and girls and dozens of them--playing organized youth soccer.

Remember, that was barely 10 years after I hadn't been able to find a soccer ball in a big sporting goods store.

My impression since the 80s and the demise of the Cosmos is that the sport has grown to the point that it's grown strong roots, but it seems to have hit a ceiling.

I think some of that is the economic reality that the economy around the world has made it possible for players to make big money in more places so that the ante is higher for US teams that want to import foreign stars.

Also, in an ironic twist, the domestic game has grown to the point that a US team can get more bang for its buck from a homegrown player in his prime than from some 30-something guy who washed out of the English league.

The US fans are more sophisticated now, too. They know that there's nothing special about a player who hasn't had a regular spot at the top level in 3 or 4 years and that's what a lot of the imported players were back in the day.

Thanks for the post Chico.

What amazes me is that you will definitely find more soccer fans, not even expatriates or first-generation Americans from countries where the game is popular, here rooting for teams over there than say finding a group of fans of the American professional leagues over there but you do see the general stuff like a Chicago Bulls jersey, a Lakers jersey, Yankee cap, and Cowboys jersey.

To go back to why soccer has not been a fixation on the entire US populace I will add another element. We are a confederation of states since our inception that goes back to being colonies. State borders makes a difference. Giants fans are upset the team is in Northern NJ, the Ohio St.-Michigan rivalry harkens back to disputed territory. In England nobody really cares about borders. You may be from Cambridge but you root for Man U. You are near the Highlands but you root for Arsenal. When you meet a Cowboys fan in NY even if you understand generally why it is easy to root for them you give that person a hard time about it. Being a fan in America puts a lot of emphasis on geography in many cases. Why can't Americans just all root for the Columbus Crew in the MLS?

Granted local programming and networks controlling the national coverage is what stifles such movements but that is also why teams like the Cowboys, Raiders, and Steelers are so popular. They bring the ratings. In the UK it is more like that. Televisions are taxable with public funding of channels so might as well watch the best rather than teams that would be relegated.

In the US it is more about geography as a fan but with programming like Setanta, Fox Soccer Channel, and Sky Sports being available to people with a satellite dish it has become easier for Americans to look into the top premiere leagues in Europe. You'd be surprised how many college kids gathered around a TV set when Chelsea played Juventus this past week.

I agree MLS has gotten better, in fact my friend's brother from HS got drafted by the Columbus Crew after playing collegiately at BC. Second round in fact, not to shabby.

I personally thought it was a shame the Red Bulls lost Altidore to La Liga but hopefully Jozie along with Adu can come back. Far too much pressure for those two to carry the league but watching the Mexico game there is so much potential the US National team has.

I'm not so sure I agree about the geography thing. Arsenal-Tottenham, for example, is all about geography, essentially going back to Tottenham feeling aggrieved at Arsenal's move from Woolwich into North London in 1913. Plus, geographic ties explain why teams in lower leagues can so consistently draw well - they pick up fans based on geography who otherwise might've picked a team in the Premiership.

That's definitely true regarding the rivalries. Even London team hates each other, City fans always say there are more City fans in Manchester than United fans except the rest of the world are United fans. But I remember going around Southampton and Windsor amazed that even the shops beyond the realms for foreign tourists really consisted of Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal. Neither place are that close to those places. It would be like going into the NJ turnpike and seeing caps for the Cubs or Boston Red Sox being sold.

Sorry, Forza.

So I am not sure but is the Ronaldo transfer happening to Real Madrid? My sister, Man U fan and Ronaldo fangirl, is devastated just at the rumors alone. I cannot imagine this as a bad thing for Liverpool at all. I think there is an excellent chance if indeed Ronaldo heads to Real Madrid that Man U loses grasp of the EPL, let alone writing off Champions. Liverpool looks impressive in both the EPL and Champions League play so perhaps they pull-off the consecutive EPL-CL double. Liverpool faces Chelsea, ought to be a breeze.

Arsenal faces Villarrael. Shame Altidore is on loan but Rossi will likely get playing time and that's good enough for me.

I am beginning to think Man City are like the Mets in England in more ways then one and their latest third kit is not helping matters.

Real Madrid are preparing to spend like fiends. I still do not think they could be Barcelona in La Liga but certainly shots at Champions. Not just he Ronaldo saga but Ribery that could surely be followed by French nationals and also Kaka. AC Milan, Chelsea, and Real Madrid all seem keen on looking at the likes of Ribery, Villa, and Kaka (Berlusconi has said Kaka's future will be decided by Monday but I hear 65 million in British pounds that RM is giving).

Man City is trying to spend their way to top 4. Gareth Barry is now Blue Moon with his credibility in the gutters. Abu Dhabi may outdo Roman Abramovich this off-season. They have to really, Manchester compared to London were Chelsea is smack dab in the middle of is not even fair. You can almost tell by the music. In Manchester it pretty much is summed up with the depressing melodies of Morrissey and Joy Division while in London you have the greatest punk scene ever full of so much energy. Man City is looking at Tevez who was a bit of a bust considering all the puff and circumstance with his transfer to Man U but I guess he does not feeling like moving out. Also Ze Roberto from Bayern Munich is heavily considering City.

Speaking of Chelsea, I wonder if the selection of Carlos Ancelotti had anything to do with him sharing the same stomping grounds of Chosen One? Looking too much into it? I personally thought Guus did a pretty good job with what he had. If Ancelotti cannot survive a season, I have to declare that Stamford Bridge has reached NHL territory with its managers. Oh and Carvalho is whining about his Chelsea experience, buh-bye.

What's going on with Xabi Alonso in Liverpool?

Oh and this is because you are soon going to see a lot of people wearing this jersey, Aon has agreed with Man U on a 8 year sponsorship deal.

Soccer is a fun game to play (I really like indoor soccer) but I dread watching it. Maybe I am too much a product of America but soccer makes baseball look like playoff hockey and playoff hockey look like Star Wars.
It really fascinates me that it is that popular across the world..