Beckham Triples Visitors To Major League Soccer
Written by Andrew Mykletun (contact - e-mail) -- January 26th, 2007 |
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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?
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January 29th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
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.
January 29th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
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.
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July 14th, 2007 at 1:44 am
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.
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