Beckham Gives ESPN Ratings Boost

It took a foreigner to do it, but it looks like Americans are finally taking to soccer (or should we say football?)! David Beckham played in an exhibition match with his new team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Saturday night and generated the largest audience ever for a Major League Soccer match on ESPN or ESPN2.

The recent immigrant played for only 16 minutes due to a sore ankle, yet an estimated 1.4 million people still tuned in to watch his first game.