MLS eyes riches as Beckham era begins

David Beckham will not join the Los Angeles Galaxy until July but already the club is planning an Asian tour in 2008, a new lucrative kit sponsor deal and a home match against English champions Chelsea.

Welcome to day one of the Beckham era for Major League Soccer, which will try to capitalize on "Beckhamania" in the wake of the English star's new five-year deal worth a reported 248 million dollars.

The 31-year-old former Manchester United star and England captain will depart Real Madrid after his contract expires June 30 and come to America with a goal of boosting football in a land where it has little impact.

"It's a very big day in the history of sports, one of the big moments as we look forward to building a league for generations to come," MLS commissioner Don Garber said.

"There is more excitement and interest in the league than there has been in quite some time."

A 13-team league that averages only 15,000 fans a game with limited appeal beyond home markets suddenly has a global superstar and big plans for selling global telecast rights and attracting more big-name international talent.

"The big fish is one fish that has been landed and we're looking for more in the years to come," Garber said, adding that another big-name deal could come next week.

"This isn't something where we expected a waterfall. This league is about slow and steady growth. There's no need to go faster than we have to go. There is no doubt this will be a different league in the future than it is today."

But boosting the image and appeal of MLS worldwide starts and ends, for now, with linking Beckham and the Galaxy.

Timothy Leiweke, president of the ownership group that operates the Galaxy, has already started work on an Asian tour, likely next year, to captialize upon Beckham's popularity there.

The Galaxy will bring in Chelsea while MLS wants the Galaxy to tour potential expansion cities, spreading Beckham's appeal beyond big-city markets and ethnic groups into previously untapped areas with grass-roots soccer fans.

US clubs have not sold corporate jersey sponsorships until this off-season, but expect the Beckham name on the back to dramatically increase the cost of putting a company logo on the front of all MLS apparel.

"The value of our jersey became more in line with those of the global teams around the world," Leiweke said. "We will market the Galaxy as a world brand. We will use David Beckham as a way into making a global brand."

Expect a new club logo and Beckham-specific merchandise to arrive before the man himself. Exploitation never sleeps.

"Exploit in the kindest sense of the word," Galaxy president and general manager Alexi Lalas said. "He has incredible drawing power and impact everywhere he goes. We're going to do everything we possibly can."

"There's going to be a curiosity factor. If we get them in they will be back. Many people will go to their first MLS game, first soccer game, to watch David Beckham but they will be exposed to many other things."

In addition to opportunities, Beckham brings dangers for MLS. There is the possibility the league will become dominated by a few clubs, something that helped doom the 1970s North American Soccer League (NASL) after Pele retired.

"We're confident it's the right thing and that we will figure out what to do if it is not," Garber said.

"This was not an act of desperation. This is not trying to follow down the path of the NASL. This was an opportunity for growth and expansion of US soccer."

That does not mean bloating MLS to 30 clubs on the basis of heavy interest in one man. Not even Beckham can make football the equal of American football overnight in the crowded US sport scene.

"There's not an expectation that David Beckham singlehandedly takes us to the NFL level," Garber said.

"There's not an expectation that David Beckham singlehandedly makes us relevant. David will make us more relevant not just nationally but internationally because of the attention he brings."