A great player, past his prime, accepts a monumental contract as an ambassador for his sport on foreign shores.

Endorsements. Fanfare. Confetti and trumpets. Glitterati and ankle tape.

It is said that David Beckham could earn as much as $250 million on American soil, between his salary, endorsements and product sales. Already Adidas has shipped 250,000 No. 23 jerseys, which sell for $80-100 apiece.

His first scheduled game Saturday against Chelsea of the English Premier League is a sellout.

Questions about how he will change the American game can be found in newspapers and sports columns around the country. A Google search on Beckham stories over the past week returns more than 10,000 hits.

Can this be for real? Can arcing corner kicks and a blessed right foot really bring credibility to a AAA league in futbol’s wasteland? Can any one player possibly live up to this stratospheric hype?

Does Beckham’s impact reflect America’s budding love affair with soccer - or with celebrity?

If I had to guess, I’d say that Beckham’s influence on an already evolving American game will fall somewhat short of the Himalayan expectations foisted upon him by our national media. He’s just one player after all, and it’s hard to imagine another player, even a great player, generating the kind of buzz that Beckham has.

But the fact that a soccer player can generate $250 million, a star-studded reception and miles of sports-column space around the country has to mean something.

Whether or not Beckham brings it across the Atlantic in his suitcase, it seems futbol is arriving in the U.S.A.

RED

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American soccer has been perpetually stuck in the mud for as long as anyone can remember, but are the wheels finally starting to turn?

Many see David Beckham’s arrival and five-year contract as that turning point. Can Beckham’s fame and game bring a new generation of fans to American stadiums?

A few decades ago, another transcendent soccer talent came the U.S. to play in hopes of igniting this country’s passion for “futbol.” What was his name?

Oh yeah…Pele. Maybe you’ve heard of him.

That didn’t work out so well, and although he was heralded as the salvation of American soccer, it can be argued that he pretty much wasn’t.

But his presence certainly didn’t hurt. In the three decades since Pele’s heyday, American youth soccer programs have steadily grown. Interest in the sport has been high enough that average attendance at MLS games has surpassed 15,000, rivaling the NHL.

Unlike the old North American Soccer League, today’s MLS has a solid business model too. Purpose-built soccer arenas. Revenue sharing.

And because of those things, teams also have some cash to throw at big stars. Beckham and Hollywood will go hand in hand. But how about Chicago’s signing of Cuauhtemoc Blanco, the great Mexican player whose name I cannot possibly pronounce?

Beckham is 32. Blanco is 34. Pele, when he played for the NASL’s New York Cosmos, was 35.

Is this the beginning of a new beginning, or another way for over-the-hill international stars to cash in?

Thursday we’ll take a closer look at Beckham’s arrival, and what it might actually mean for the state of one of the world’s great sports on American soil.

RED

Get Red exclusively in Pocket Express - just go to Sports and look for Red’s new commentary under Soccer!