The 10th anniversary of David Beckham's arrival in MLS was yesterday, and MLS Commissioner Don Garber admitted he did not believe the league "would be what we are today had David not made that decision to come.” Garber appeared on Fox Sports Radio's "The Herd" and called Beckham the “tipping point of that next generation of growth,” as MLS has “doubled in size" since '07. Garber: "We’ve got many, many more stadiums; many, many more fans.” He said MLS is still a “league that needs to have big international players that attract the attention of all those people who are watching the Champions League” and be “able to capitalize on the global aspect" of the game. Beckham was 31 years old when he joined the Galaxy. The average age of international players has since lowered to 26-27 years old, and Garber said, "You want them young." Fox' Colin Cowherd noted one barrier MLS "can face is a lot of America (says), ‘It’s not our football, … it’s their sport.’” Garber noted he has "been dealing” with the attitude soccer is a foreign sport and not American since he was named MLS commissioner in ’99. But he said, "This is the most American of all sports because think of our country. Putting all politics aside, we are a land of immigrants. We are the league for that new America” ("The Herd," Fox Sports Radio, 1/11).
