Beckham deal is done; ticket prices cut
Weeks of haggling ended on Saturday when Major League Soccer’s Galaxy and the Italian club AC Milan reached an agreement to share English midfielder David Beckham for the rest of 2009.
As a consequence of the deal, the Galaxy will play AC Milan in a friendly match at the Home Depot Center in Carson on July 19, and Galaxy ticket prices will be cut across the board by an average of 10% because Beckham will be available for less than half of the MLS season.
Those who already have bought tickets will be given refunds.
Under terms of the agreement, Beckham will remain on loan to AC Milan until the Serie A season ends on May 31. He will return to the Galaxy on July 1 and stay through the end of the MLS season on Nov. 22. At that point, he can opt to remain with the Galaxy or buy out the final two years on his five-year contract.
Beckham’s first MLS match of 2009 will be on the road against the New York Red Bulls on July 16 at Giants Stadium. That game was moved from July 18 to allow for the Galaxy-AC Milan match in Carson.
“We did what we said we were going to do,” said Tim Leiweke, the chief executive of AEG, which owns the Galaxy. “We brought Landon [Donovan] back and we brought David back. He’s a little delayed, but they’re both coming back.”
Leiweke said Beckham was pleased with the outcome, which came after more than two months of sometimes tense negotiations.
“He’s excited and happy and relieved,” Leiweke said.
The Galaxy had sought between $10 million and $15 million for Beckham if AC Milan was intent on buying him outright, but the Italian club offered only $3 million and talks reached an impasse until the extended loan arrangement and AC Milan’s visit to Los Angeles were agreed upon.
Meanwhile, Donovan, who played in his last game on loan to Bayern Munich on Saturday, will be taking on a greater leadership role when he rejoins the Galaxy on Tuesday, Leiweke said. For more on that and on the way the Beckham deal finally was struck, please go to latimes.com/sports/soccer.
-- Grahame L. Jones
Carlos Tevez scored twice as Manchester United charged into the FA Cup semifinal with a 4-0 victory at Fulham, and Chelsea eased through by winning, 2-0, at second-tier Coventry. . . . Barcelona’s 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao at Madrid extended its lead in the Spanish league to six points.
WINTER SPORTS
Vonn fails to clinch title
Lindsey Vonn clipped a gate during the slalom, missing a chance to clinch the overall title, and Sandrine Aubert of France won her first World Cup race at Ofterschwang, Germany.
Vonn, the first-run leader, still takes a big lead into next week’s World Cup finals.
Shani Davis set a world record in the 1,000 meters at the speedskating World Cup at Kearns, Utah, breaking the mark U.S. skater Trevor Marsicano held for about 20 minutes. Davis finished in 1:06.42.
TENNIS
U.S. takes lead in Davis Cup
Bob and Mike Bryan came through for the United States again with a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) victory over Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka and Yves Allegro to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead in the opening round of the Davis Cup at Birmingham, Ala.
Andy Roddick can clinch the best-of-five series by beating Wawrinka in today’s first reverse singles match. If Roddick loses, James Blake will attempt to clinch it for the U.S. by defeating Marco Chiudinelli.
The winner will play at Croatia on July 8-10. Croatia advanced to the world group quarterfinals when Mario Ancic and Marin Cilic beat Chile’s Nicolas Massu and Paul Capdeville, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, for a 3-0 lead.
Serbia pulled to within 2-1 of defending champion Spain by winning the doubles.
ETC.
Kyle Busch wins truck race
Kyle Busch won his second straight NASCAR truck race, holding off Kevin Harvick on the final lap of the American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Chad Reed slipped past surprise leader Jason Lawrence with three laps remaining to win the Daytona Supercross at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.
Pre-race favorite James Stewart fell off his Yamaha in an incident on the first turn but battled back for a seventh-place finish.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson won his second consecutive bout, defeating Keith Jardine by unanimous decision in front of a sold-out crowd at UFC 96 in Columbus, Ohio.
A party atmosphere swirled around Anchorage, Alaska, at the start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday, when 67 mushers and more than 1,000 dogs set their sights for Nome. Two-time defending champion Lance Mackey said he is going into the race with the same attitude as always: “Expect the worst and hope for the best.”
Eric Shanteau won the 200-meter breaststroke at the Austin (Texas) Grand Prix in a time of 2:09.97, the fastest in the world this year. Shanteau had delayed surgery for testicular cancer last summer so he could compete in the Beijing Olympics.
Former NBA star Charles Barkley began serving a three-day jail sentence in Arizona for a drunk-driving charge.
