Fine, it’s a leap, but a fun one.  Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria married San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker a few years back.  One of Parker’s Groomsmen was fellow Frenchman Thierry Henry.  Now there’s word that Monsieur Henry will be heading across the pond to join the New York Red Bulls after the World Cup.

Let’s look at the timeline of a few recent moves the MLS has made.

First, they managed to work out an amicable deal between the players and owners, avoiding a strike that would have destroyed the league.  The players union was rightly arguing that franchises in Seattle and Toronto were profitable, that soccer only stadiums in LA, Chicago and other cities showed promise, and that the new and incoming franchises in Philly, Vancouver and Portland were poised for huge success.  The easy thing for the owners to do would be to give the MLS players a raise and keep the league at status quo.

But, after 15 years or so, the league is finally at an inflection point.  It’s ready to “cross the chasm” if you will.  You have a nice little storm where the league is gaining momentum in one of the few years that the mass public will spend at least 3 days this summer watching the U.S. World Cup team.  And since ESPN started covering European soccer a few years back, they know a few names of super teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Barcelona and Real Madrid.  They also learned about a few stars like Beckham, Ronaldhino, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Thierry Henry.

So what’s great now, is that those guys are getting old.  Not too old to perform, but too old to compete in Spain and England.  And all of a sudden, their agent can tell them that L.A., New York, Chicago, etc… all can provide them more money than they’d get from some 2nd tier Italian team.

So the MLS makes an incredibly sound decision.  Even though the league is salary capped, they give each team the ability to add a 2nd player that doesn’t count against the cap (called a Designated Player).  We’ll call this the Thierry Henry rule.  Why?  because New York already has a Designated Player.  But nothing could be better for the league than it’s largest market getting good, and adding the best player in the league.  I know Henry landing in New York makes it harder for the Sounders to win a league cup.  But it’s so great for the league.  You can’t run a successful league without New York or LA being one of the top attended teams.  

Think about it.  There’s a simple problem in which to get corporate sponsors, you need to schmooze some execs.  And the league office is in New York.  The CMO of Budweiser, Coke, P+G, Clorox or Apple is not going to go to a game in the Meadowlands with 6,000 people and write a check for $10MM.  You get Henry in a packed, soccer only stadium, and that same CMO suddenly has budget.

So forget Beckham.  He may have gotten the MLS some buzz.  But watch for Henry and the stream of guys that come over in July 2010 as the people who buzz the MLS into the mainstream.