Galaxy F Giovani dos Santos "has played only four MLS games" since signing a $34M deal with the team in July, but "Giomania has created a level of excitement the league hasn't had" since the Galaxy signed David Beckham in '07, according to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. TIMES. The Galaxy's five MLS games with dos Santos "were sellouts and the club expects its final three home games to sell out." The Galaxy "sold out only two regular-season home games last season." His league debut "drew the largest TV audience for an MLS game on ESPN Deportes." The net two weeks later "devoted an unprecedented seven hours to pregame and postgame coverage" of the Galaxy's game with NYC FC and was "rewarded with the network's second-largest MLS audience." MLS claims it has "always done well with Latinos, saying they account for a third of its fan base, the highest percentage among the five major U.S. professional sports leagues." But it "hasn't done as well with Mexicans, who have remained fiercely loyal to the Mexican league and to Mexico's national team." As the first Mexican national team star to "join MLS in his prime," the 26-year-old dos Santos "may be changing that." And the fact that he "landed in Southern California, home to more Mexicans than any place outside Mexico, has played a big part in fueling that change." With dos Santos signed through '19, the "question is whether MLS will be able to entice more Mexican players" (L.A. TIMES, 8/30).
