COMMERCE CITY — The last time the MLS All-Star Game was held here, the biggest star showed up in a three-piece black suit and an open-collared white shirt. that night in 2007, two days before making his debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy and changing the face of the league.
MLS changed its rules for him, creating the “designated player” — nicknamed the Beckham Rule — which allowed teams to spend money apart from their league-dispersed salary allotment to attract high-priced talent.
Now the league has 47 designated players — including Kevin Doyle and Juan Ramirez of the Rapids — and major international stars have been raising the reputation of the league.
WATCH:
David Villa, formerly of Valencia, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid — and Spain’s 2010 World Cup title team — joined New York City FC this season. Kaká of Brazil, the 2007 FIFA world player of the year, signed with Orlando City FC this season.
Two major international stars joined the league this month: Frank Lampard, Chelsea’s all-time leading scorer, signed with NYCFC. Steven Gerrard, a legend with Liverpool, joined the Los Angeles Galaxy — which already had Robbie Keane, another former English Premier League star who is the Irish national team’s all-time leading scorer.
MLS teams share revenue, distributing about $3.5 million to each team for player payrolls with a maximum “budget charge” of $436,250 for any player. However, a “designated player” can earn more than that, with the difference coming from the owner’s investment independent of league revenue.
“The league has been totally transformed since the beginning of that rule,” said commissioner Don Garber. “It wasn’t the rule that really created the momentum we have in the league. It really is all the changes that have gone on in our country — the evolution of the soccer culture that has really taken root throughout the U.S. and Canada. I think it speaks to the plan we’ve had to build a soccer nation, and I think that soccer nation has really arrived.”
Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane, whose team will play the MLS all-stars here Wednesday night, has been impressed. MLS games are now shown in England.
“You can see the level is growing, the MLS is becoming bigger and bigger, and it’s attracting big names,” Kane said. “You see the names we’re going to be facing in the game on Wednesday night, and it proves the game is getting bigger. The USA national team is doing very well, they had a great World Cup last year, so I think everyone knows it’s becoming a bigger and better league.”
Kane was 13 when Beckham joined MLS.
“I was intrigued,” Kane said. “Beckham was a hero of mine. I think he came over with the idea to try to change the image of it, to try to make it a bigger and better league, and I think he succeeded. Now you see so many other players going over there.”
Villa and Kaká are on the MLS all-star roster. Keane, Lampard and Gerrard were named to it but withdrew because of injuries.
Kaká won a World Cup with Brazil and the UEFA Champions League Cup with AC Milan.
“For me, it is the opportunity (for) another part of my career, playing here and be part of the growing phase of the MLS,” Kaká said. “Probably I will not see the best phase of MLS, but I will be part of this time. In the future, we are going to be one of the best leagues in the world.”
American soccer fans are excited about the growth of soccer’s popularity, fueled by the U.S. men’s team advancing to the knockout phase in last year’s World Cup, the U.S. women winning the World Cup this summer and major international signings becoming commonplace in MLS.
“It’s really a new dawn for our sport,” said Garber. “I think it all really kind of got kicked off at what we call MLS 2.0, which was the beginning of the designated player rule.”
John Meyer: jmeyer@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnmeyer
MLS all-star game
7 p.m. Wednesday, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
MLS all-stars vs. Tottenham Hotspur
(English Premier League)
Tickets: Sold out
MLS ALL-STARS
(Coached by Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni)
Goalkeepers: David Ousted (Vancouver Whitecaps),
Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders: DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo),
Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Matt Besler
(Sporting Kansas City), Laurent Ciman (Montreal
Impact), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy),
Chad Marshall (Seattle Sounders), Drew Moor
(Rapids), Waylon Francis (Columbus)
Midfielders: Fabian Castillo (FC Dallas), Sam Cronin (Rapids), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Kaká (Orlando City SC), Frank Lampard (New York City FC), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City), Ethan Finlay (Columbus), Juninho (Los Angeles)
Forwards: Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders),
Sebastian Giovinco (Toronto FC), Kei Kamara (Columbus
Crew), David Villa (New York City FC), Gyasi Zardes (Los Angeles)
