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Will Beckham make football (soccer) big in the US?

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The legacy that david beckham will leave won't be realised for 10-15 years. As a kids soccer coach (and a brit living in the us), i've gone from around 20 kids wanting to be involved each week to around 50, and a work colleague who also coaches has seen a huge increase in interest aswell. The problem has always been keeping the kids interested in soccer. They often play soccer at a young age, but as they grow older getting into the main US sports like football & baseball. If beckham keeps the kids interested, we could see MLS become one of the strongest leagues in the world, and not just a retirement home for south american & european footballers.
 
I'm glad he plays soccer so well, when he speaks he sounds like a *gay dwarf that just took a big hit of helium.



*Not that there' anything wrong with gay dwarves that huff helium...

 
Tried watching the LA / Chelsea game on ESPN the other night and I got through about 3 minutes before I was ready to hang myself out of boredom.
 
No, soccer will most likely never be a popular headline sport here.

I do get a kick out of thoes MLS commercials pushing soccer. Comparing the different aspects of other sports to somewhat similar aspects of soccer.
 
Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Tried watching the LA / Chelsea game on ESPN the other night and I got through about 3 minutes before I was ready to hang myself out of boredom.
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I don't blame you since it was a terrible game. That was one of the only times I've watched LA play and there is a reason they are at the bottom of the league. I seriously doubt Beckham can do much to help them. The MLS/Celtic
 
Soccer will never be popular until the US wins the World Cup, and after that it will go back to the same ol thing. Bass fishing is probably a bigger sport than soccer
 
If the diving/play-acting/mongish whining is driven from the sport it will gain popularity in North America. The English Leagues seems to have the least of this behavior and I find the games from there to be fairly enjoyable. (Chelsea plays a boring tactical style though)
 
Originally posted by: Quasmo
Soccer will never be big in the US because it's extremely unprofitable to broadcast the game on TV, unlike football which has about 400 commercial breaks, soccer games have about 8.
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This is the ONLY reason it won't succeed on TV. Look at other sports:

Baseball - They're either changing pitchers every five minutes, talking about changing the pitcher, arguing with the ump, or standing around scratching their junk. Plenty of time for commercials.

American football - As a previous poster stated, this game was basically designed for television. Short plays, ample breaks, gobs of timeouts etc.

Bouncyball - Even more timeouts than football. Can basically stop play whenever they want for commercials.

Hockey - Quick action. Plenty of stoppages for those 15 second spots. Two long intermissions. This sport SHOULD be doing much better than it is.

I'm surprised people think soccer is so much more boring than other sports. Take bouncyball, is there anything more meaningless than the first three quarters (and most of the fourth)? I'd rather watch my fingernails grow.
 
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