America is about to welcome arguably the most well-known athletic superstar in the world. The 31 year old former England captain, David Beckham, recently signed a five year contract with LA Galaxy worth $250M. His current contract with Real Madrid expires on June 30th, but Beckham is not expected to join LA Galaxy before August. We explored to what extent Bechkam’s presence will increase soccer interest in the U.S..

The volume of unique visitors to Major League Soccer’s website has been growing slowly since 2001. However, these numbers significantly lag behind the respective interest in America’s major sports. On a relative basis, MLS is to baseball as Carrot Top is to Sacha Cohen – not nearly as popular.

Will Beckham make the difference? Can Beckham’s marketing potential take the MLS from the basement to the dinner table of the major sports market in the U.S.?

The winter months are the off-season for the MLS and are annually the low point in traffic to its official site; yet once the breaking news was released on January 12th, traffic to mlsnet.com increased by 200%. More striking was the jump in traffic to the Galaxy’s team page - 2000%.

It should come as no surprise that people jumped online to find the details of the Beckham deal. Beckham is considered an idol to thousands of soccer fans, not to mention millions of adoring girls. The impact of having such an extraordinary player with so much star power should have a great effect on the LA Galaxy and the MLS.

Will Americans’ soccer interest ever reach that of MLB, NBA or NFL? Hmmmm, can we afford twenty more Beckhams? Is Pele’ available?

ProfileGet SnapShots of sites mentioned in this post:


Analyze more domains: + +

Done reading? subscribe: To get an automatic feed of all future posts subscribe here, or to receive them via email enter your email address in the box in the right column.

Link to This Post:     


Comments

RSS feed for comments on this post.
  1. Randy Parella

    I want Zidane and then I’ll help those trends. Adding Beckham to the MLS is like putting a cherry on top of bowl of dog food.

  2. John

    Yeah, it will be interesting to see what the Beckham effect is on the MLS. I think a soccer league just needs to grow over time, with quality youth players becoming the stars, and teams forming devout and passionate fans since they’ve grown up watching the team.

    The MLS also needs soccer specific stadiums, where 30K to 45K can sit very close to the field and enjoy the game, not be backed away because of a track, but a stadium designed for soccer. But, Beckham will come when he can still play, not as an old man. A cab driver told me Beckham is not a play maker, he’s no Maradona or Pele, but I said he’s a special player who does things in sublime fashion none the less.

  3. pfkejh iflhpa

    cidts dfxwebo spijda ifcynsxau wjdyvs atrodpz tkmpf

  4. Downs MacRury

    David Beckham, worried about LA traffic, has made a tender offer for the Pacific Coast Highway with the intention of taking the road private. “It will be like a big driveway,” explained wife Posh Spice.

  5. site

    greatings

    will read it later

  6. RAID数据恢复

    Hello Good website, I love, I hope you do better! !

  7. 数据恢复

    Your website, I liked it, it has a collection!

  8. littleguy47

    hey everyone i want to post my email which is littleguy47@gmail.com and see how many people get on it and please do not change the password i just want to see how many people i can get to get on it just dont change the password and when you get on send an email to littleguy47@gmail.com and say you got on and the password is cougar22
    just please dont change the password
    littleguy47

  9. DAVID CURTIS

    We are currently looking for an international partime driver , personal manager ,receptionist, agent,sales rep and house attendant for immediate employment.

    SALARY; $50,000 –$ 60,000 weekly

    For more details; Forward your application to email;

    liuyang@sify.com

    Note.

    The applicant must include his/her full name and Address.

    CONTACT PERSON;

    david curtis

    [personal manager]

    LIU YANG CONSULTANCY LTD

    REG.60779

    342 PERSIARAN SEPANG
    61000 CYBERJAYA
    SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN
    MALAYSIA
    Phone:
    +608314 6308
    Fax:
    +608314 6714

  10. bassan

    hi, msj 570 wonderful blog 570 share

  11. ghd Hair Straightener

    I like very much the writings and pictures and explanations in your adress so I look forward to see your next writings.

  12. ghd Hair Straightener

    Your article was very well written, I am very like it, I wish you happy every day!

  13. bassan loadcell

    hi, my name is basan.com.tr BASSAN loadcell.your wonderful blog, 536 blog. tnx. Msj number . 536

  14. merdiven

    Hi, We have been manufacturing stair. 607 merdivenci 607


Have something to say? Leave a Comment

Get the comments RSS feed, instant notification of new comments

Latest Blog Posts:


Nov 6: Dicing into Facebook Ads
Nov 5: “Game Over” for Wii?
Nov 4: Want a Tip about Podcasting? Digital 180 Speaks with Tippingpoint Labs’ Chief Strategy Officer
Nov 3: More Castrol Traffic No Fantasy
Nov 2: Digital 180 Speaks with Espresso’s Managing Director Marta Kagan
Oct 30: Apple Having a Little Fun
Oct 29: HTC Poised to Grow as Smartphone Market Expands
Oct 28: Getting The Most Out Of Compete PRO : Keyword Destination Reports
Oct 27: Walmart and Amazon declare war : Online Retailers Fight for Book Sales
Oct 26: Clicking Their Way to Home Improvement: How Consumers are using the web in home improvement projects
Oct 23: Ads That Reject The Click
Oct 22: September Search Share: The Bing train keeps rolling but not at Google’s expense
Oct 21: The Economy Helps Boost the Prepaid Market
Oct 20: Browsers for Food
Oct 19: September search term biggest movers are here!
Oct 16: Can Microsoft’s Zune HD challenge the iPod?
Oct 15: The Dove Soap Bubble
Oct 14: Sept Data is Live: 2009 is BIG for Back to School
Oct 12: Sweetness! Compete PRO just got that much better!
Oct 9: Toyota Spending Big to Get Off the Sidelines