Nearly two out of three chose the LA Galaxy star as
best athlete of 2008, ahead of national heroes including basketball
ace KOBE BRYANT and golfer TIGER
WOODS.
Becks, 33, even triumphed over Super Bowl sensation
ELI MANNING — who led the New York Giants to
victory this year in the pinnacle of the US sporting calendar.
The accolade, in the hugely popular Teen Choice
Awards, comes hand in hand with the former England captain
achieving a first as a US style icon.
Becks — snapped in a suit beside a boxing ring — is
pictured on both the front AND back cover of the
US version of Men’s Health, the top-selling men’s mag in the
States.
His 1920s-inspired autumn style guide shoot is by top
music photographer Antony Mandler.
Hundreds of thousands of kids voted Becks top athlete
in the Teen Choice Award, which was presented last night at a
televised celebrity bash. More than 20 million viewers will watch
him receive it from Hannah Montana star MILEY
CYRUS on prime-time TV tonight.
Becks made it his mission to win over kids and boost
soccer’s popularity when he arrived in the US in July last year, on
a salary reported to be £3.3million. This season Galaxy have scored
the most goals in the Major League. Becks got five and set up
seven.
He was recently named Major League Soccer Player of the
Year at US cable TV network ESPN’s sporting excellence awards. The
average Galaxy attendance at The Home Depot Centre and away is now
more than 28,000 — higher than Reading, Portsmouth, Fulham,
Blackburn, Wigan and Bolton in the Premier League last season.
The Becks effect has seen a surge of interest in US
soccer.
Major League shirt sales rocketed 780 per cent last
year and clubs are seeing a leap in season ticket sales.
MLS internet traffic is up 80 per cent.
This season all games are being televised for the first
time ever and audiences are up by a quarter.
