I found an interesting article on the Los Angeles Times' site today. For those not aware, Major League Soccer (MLS) is about to lose David Beckham, just one year after the soccer coverboy signed a five-year deal to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham was allowed to also play for European powerhouse AC Milan, and now he doesn't want to leave.

As the story notes, this looks bad for American soccer because Beckham wanted to be " ... an ambassador for the game here and, hopefully, it is going to encourage other players to come to the States and be part of this because soccer in America can become much bigger." Well, how is that working out? Answer: so well that the ambassador is ready to leave.

English soccer star David Beckham came to America earlier this year, joining the Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy with a base salary of $5.5 million and guaranteed compensation of $6,5 million, making him by far the highest paid soccer player in the United States. Throw in some marketing opportunities and profit-sharing options offered by team investor Anschutz Entertainment Group, and he's in a league of his own: Nearly 30 percent of MLS players are paid either $17,700 or $12,900.

Beckham's former team, Real Madrid, had paid him nearly $32 million annually. So, why the move for less money? Beckham is not just an athlete, but a fairly successful pitchman. His biggest endorsement, Gillette, pays him an estimated $9 million for three years, and he also lends his image to Pepsico (NYSE: PEP) products, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Adidas and -- yep -- Brylcream. Playing around the United States will give him a higher profile in the only market he hasn't conquered yet: ours.

B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.

Be sure to check out more Money Winners of 2007.

The New York Times interviewed Don Garber, Commissioner of Major League Soccer. He took over in 1999 after the league lost a quarter of a billion in its first five seasons, but things may be on an upswing. Attendance is up considerably this season, buoyed by the interest that international tabloid star David Beckham has brought. The league has landed some big corporate sponsors, its first long-term TV deal, and is expanding in size.

According to Garber, Beckham has had a huge impact: "We have sold more than 300,000 Beckham Los Angeles Galaxy jerseys, which was 700 times the number of Galaxy jerseys sold in 2006. Merchandise sales over all have gone up two or three times. International TV sales have gone up from next to nothing to distribution in 100 countries, with live games in Asia and Mexico."

But he also points out that, because of injuries, Beckham hasn't yet contributed on the field, but there's always next year. You have to worry about the quality of MLS' growth given that -- a 700-fold increase in sales of Galaxy jerseys for a tabloid-star who hasn't played much so far.

But it sounds like MLS is doing things right on a lot of other fronts so maybe the league will find success -- it may not become the fifth major sport, but it is developing a nice niche following.

It's been three weeks since our Money Face-Off feature ran here at BloggingStocks and on AOL, offering you the opportunity to share who you though had the financial edge in a series of twenty head-to-head match-ups. So I thought I'd take another look and see how things have worked out.

It's hard to pick just one big winner. In terms of the largest lead over a rival, Ivanka Trump easily beats Paris Hilton with 89% of the vote. Others holding big leads over their opponents include Tiger Woods, Warren Buffett, Steven Spielberg, and Rupert Murdoch.

In terms of receiving the most votes, the clear leader is the Oprah Winfrey vs. Martha Stewart match-up, with just short of 150,000 votes. Other big vote getters were Tiger Woods vs. David Beckham, Rudy Giuliani vs. Michael Bloomberg, and Bill Gates vs. Steve Jobs. In terms of the liveliest discussions in the comments, the winners are Oprah Winfrey vs. Martha Stewart, Erin Burnett vs. Maria Bartiromo, and Bono vs. Angelina Jolie. Also check out the comments for the J.K. Rowling vs. J.R.R Tolkien, Tiger Woods vs. David Beckham, and Ivanka Trump vs. Paris Hilton posts.

As for the face-off posts here that got the most attention, the clear winner is Erin Burnett vs. Maria Bartiromo, with more than 13,000 hits. Lindsay Lohan vs. Britney Spears and Oprah Winfrey vs. Martha Stewart also attracted lots of readers.

Results for all the face-offs follow below, but keep in mind that the voting is still open. It's not too late to add your vote or let us know what you think.

It's been a week since our Money Face-Off posts ran here on BloggingStocks, and less than that since the Money Face-Offs were featured on the AOL welcome page, and the response has been terrific. Many of the face-off polls have had more than 50,000 votes, a couple of them approaching 100,000.

The biggest response came to the Oprah Winfrey vs. Martha Stewart match-up. So far, about 75 percent of respondents feel that Oprah is the more successful media magnate. Not that much surprise there, as Oprah's fans are legion. Interestingly, though, of the twenty-some comments the post has received, most of them are pro-Martha.

Another clear leader is Bill Gates over rival Steve Jobs. About three quarters of poll votes have gone his way, despite all the buzz recently about Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and the popularity of its products. Maybe readers are just happy that Gates is stepping down. Let us know what you think.

Alan Greenspan seems to be everywhere these days, promoting his new book, including Comedy Central's The Daily Show and NPR's Fresh Air. In our match-up of the current and former Fed chairs, Ben Bernanke vs. Alan Greenspan, more than 70 percent of respondents have voted for Greenspan. Comments to the post are mixed, but seem to me to focus on Greenspan, whether pro or con.

This post is part of our Money Face-Offs feature. Let us know who you think comes out ahead in this head-to-head match-up, and check out our other Money Face-Off posts.

Celebrities -- they're more than superior human beings, they're money-making machines. If these celebrities were stocks, which would be the shrewd buy?

Tiger Woods, unarguably the world's greatest golfer, or David Beckham, the world's best-know soccer player -- in which would you invest?

The industry that is Tiger has shown consistent growth in earnings, with PGA winnings in his first 13 years as a pro exceeding $70 million. His presence in a golf tournament boosts television ratings by 50% or more. He almost single-handedly established Nike in the golf equipment world. He holds the #5 place in Forbes' Celebrity 100 and was #2 in press clippings in 2005. Nike (NYSE: NKE), Buick (NYSE: GM), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Accenture, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Tag Heuer are among the companies that shovel buckets of cash his way in return for his endorsement.

David Beckham is no slouch in the cash category, either. The Times estimates the soccer star brings in a cool $40+ million for endorsements, including Adidas, ESPN, and Motorola (NYSE: MOT). Even in soccer-lite America, he has 51.9% recognition, more than twice that of NBA MVP Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs.

I guess it's kind of good news, bad news for Major League Soccer. The Brit who defines the word metrosexual made his stateside debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy but, because of an ankle injury, played for a total of just 16 minutes. But according to the Associated Press, the exhibition match was the highest-rated ESPN broadcast of the MLS in history, scoring a rating of 1, meaning that 1% of U.S. households with ESPN tuned in to watch Beckham. I mean soccer.

Bringing in David Beckham has the potential to be absolutely disastrous for the sport. While the MLS has failed to connect with a broad audience, it does have a fairly strong core following of die-hard soccer fans. I have several friends in that category, and they are none too pleased with the signing of Beckham. He's an old soccer player on the downside of his career, and everyone knows he was hired for his celebrity and face rather than his feet. The MLS is making a big bold move to try to appeal to a broader demographic, but it may well be alienating its fan base in the process.

If anything, this move is reminiscent of the publicity stunts Major League Baseball teams pulled in the first part of the 20th century -- bringing in a midget to bat when the team was out of contention and the like.

The MLS will probably continue to score higher ratings because of Beckham. But if their goal is to turn soccer into anything other than a fringe sport of paparazzi spectacle, they will need to think of something better. For now, the MLS has more in common with the WWE than with baseball or football.

Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF), which sells weight management and nutritional supplements to promote a healthier lifestyle, last week turned down the bid by Whitney V LP to buy all outstanding shares of common stock at $38 per share. Whitney already owns 27% of Herbalife. Given that the stock traded at over $39 today, and closed at $38.88 yesterday, I'd say Herbalife made the right decision. Currently, analysts give the stock a 1 year target low of $45 and a high of $50 with 4 major analysts upgrading the stock to market outperform. Why did Whitney make such a low offer?

The stock price is going even higher given the fact that Herbalife recently closed on two big deals that will increase its visibility as a healthy lifestyle product that will further drive sales. Herbalife recently acquired a new license to operate in China. This is a huge new market for western-branded healthy living products tailored to appeal to China's rising middle class, which looks to the West for consumer trends. Closer to home, Herbalife just negotiated a marketing agreement with soccer star David Beckham who left team Real Madrid to sign with the Los Angeles Galaxy, which is heavily promoting their new star. The marketing crossover could introduce Herbalife products to an entirely new set of consumers.

It seems like it happens every couple years. The promoters of major league soccer have finally found the secret ingredient needed to give soccer mass appeal as a spectator sport in the United States -- some advertising promotion, strategic partnership, or, in this case, the high-profile signing pf real Madrid soccer star/Posh Spice's Hubby/The Original Metrosexual, David Beckham. At 31 years of age, the British midfielder is already on the downside of his playing career, and there are a bunch of reasons this gimmick won't work:

1. The only people in the United States (other than die-hard soccer fans who, presumably, already watch MLS) who care about David Beckham are celebrity gossip followers -- and these people are unlikely to become MLS fans because of David Beckham. Sure, they might go to one game out of curiosity, or buy a poster of him -- but this will not translate into success for Major League Soccer as a whole.

2. The 18- to 35-year-old football, hockey, and baseball fans that soccer really would need to attract to become a viable spectator sport just don't care about professional soccer, or David Beckham. They might buy a copy of Maxim with Victoria Beckham on the cover, but they don't really care about David. If anything, a lot of men hate him for being so classy and good-looking.

3, This blatant PR gimmick runs the risk of alienating the few core soccer fans MLS can count on by turning their sport into a media circus. Think of Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore.

The Wall Street Journal points out numerous endorsement deals and media buzz that the league has generated in the wake of the Beckham signing. But I'll be surprised if anyone cares in a few years. Wasn't Freddy Adu supposed to generate lasting interest in soccer?