Beckham Done For Season After 310 Minutes With Galaxy

So David Beckham, who is making $6.5 million a year to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy, is out for the Major League Soccer season after spraining a knee last week.

Matt A. Brown / Isiphotos.com

Beckham, who played just 310 minutes in six Galaxy games this season, has a contract bringing him extra endorsement cash that could escalate its value to $250 million over five years.

His much-ballyhooed arrival in Los Angeles with wife Victoria, the former Spice Girls singer, triggered tremendous publicity. His first game with the Galaxy was shown even nationally by ESPN, and his presence drew 66,237 fans last month to a Galaxy match in New Jersey.

And soccer merchandise and tickets have been sold in record numbers in every MLS city.

So it stands to reason that Vancouver Whitecaps President Bob Lenarduzzi, whose team has sold 45,000 tickets for an Oct. 3 exhibition against the Galaxy, said that if Beckham does not play and "'we can't reschedule, we would look' at refunding fans the cost of the tickets," according to the Los Angeles Times.

Soccer in North America suffers again because too much pressure is put on one player. Can anyone name another marquee name in the entire MLS?