Beckham’s MLS Arrival Slowly Paying Dividends For League
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Writer Feels Buzz Surrounding
Beckham's Arrival To MLS Has Fizzled |
It has been one year since MLS Galaxy MF David Beckham arrived in the U.S., and while the growth of soccer in the country has been "moved forward, it has not been launched in the manner of one of his trademark free kicks,” but rather it has been a “series of small dribbles,” according to Billy Witz of the N.Y. TIMES. Any buzz generated from Beckham’s arrival “has mostly fizzled” outside the soccer world. Staffordshire Univ. professor of culture, media and sport Ellis Cashmore: “Beckham may have been a larger than life character, but in America he’s becomes a medium-sized fish in a very big pond. That engagement he’s had with European consumers -- who have watched him lurch from one crisis to another, on and off the field, then restore himself -- it doesn’t exist.” Witz noted Galaxy coverage in the L.A. Times is “reduced almost exclusively to game reports,” and the Orange County Register “recently stopped covering” the team. Galaxy Assistant GM Tom Payne: “We’re past the honeymoon phase” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/19). However, in N.Y., Filip Bondy wrote people are “coming to watch MLS teams. Not in droves, but in persistent dribbles. And they are especially coming to see Beckham.” Wherever Beckham goes, “conversation is sure to follow.” North Carolina-based Integrity Sports soccer marketing consultant Pat Millen: “The Beckham Effect has been substantial and significant. I’m seeing so many more American soccer fans than ever before” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/20).
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Crowd Of 46,754 Turns Out To See Beckham
During Saturday's Galaxy-Red Bulls Game |
DIRECT KICK: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s Tripp Mickle reports average attendance in MLS over the first half of the '08 season -- Beckham’s first full season with the league -- has increased 8.8% to reach a 12-year high of 16,378. TV viewership on ESPN2 rose 17% to an average of 289,000 viewers for 15 matches in '08, up from 246,000 viewers for 13 matches in ’07. Ratings have remained flat at a 0.2 cable rating. MLS President Mark Abbott said, “From a business perspective, [Beckham has] been fantastic” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/21 issue). In L.A., Grahame Jones writes, “Suggestions from some media quarters that the Beckham buzz has evaporated and that his impact on the sport in the U.S. has been minimal are met with withering scorn.” AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke, whose company owns the Galaxy, said, “To me, that is an indication that they do not know what they are talking about.” With Saturday’s Galaxy-Red Bulls game drawing 46,754 fans at Giants Stadium, Leiweke said, “How can you not pay attention to the impact this guy is creating?” U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said of soccer in the U.S., “There is absolutely a change. Is it where we want to be? The answer is no. But there’s no doubt that the sport has a much greater presence than it did a decade ago or even five years ago. … David is a significant piece in the puzzle, but no the whole puzzle.” Sports Business Group President David Carter said MLS has the “financial stability and now they can build upon that. They can be bold and make some global sports news by bringing in some … players” (L.A. TIMES, 7/21).
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Leiweke Says Galaxy Revenues Have
Grown 300% Since Beckham's Arrival |
PAYING DIVIDENDS: Leiweke said of Beckham, “Our business relationship has been everything we expected. On the Galaxy side, he’s like us: He won't be happy until he wins.” Leiweke added, “David as a brand and a businessman, everybody would say this was a great decision. David on the pitch is a fierce competitor and demanding. Our revenues have grown 300[%]; MLS teams never looked at friendlies and tours (for) profit. What we’re doing is revolutionary, to see us get the kind of money we get paid to go on the road. When we draw 60,000, that’ good for league coffers” (N.Y. POST, 7/19). MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Beckham is “not going to make the MLS the NFL. Only time, generations and globalization will do that, if ever. But he plays with his heart on his sleeve. Not everybody is used to seeing an athlete giving 110%. And his accessibility has been unprecedented. It’s good to finally have somebody play up to expectations” (N.Y. POST, 7/20).
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