Beckham's Impact in America

I would like to think that the impact of David Beckham coming to America to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy would be beneficial enough to thrust professional soccer in America into the mainstream. But I'm afraid that that result is highly unlikely.

That said, David Beckham does, however, bring something to the MLS that it sorely needs, and that is celebrity. For the first time since the league's inception in 1996, the MLS has a player who has name recognition beyond the sports page. For the first time, an average American chosen at random on the street can actually name an active professional soccer player. David Beckham has, overnight, become the face of the MLS and soccer in America in general. And there is no way to underestimate the need for such a face, a face that soccer in America has not had since Pele.

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