After being suspended for a bit, the David Beckham No Show has returned, for as long as six weeks this time, which means plenty of people are feeling pretty sorry for themselves right about now. Who should you feel sorriest for? Mark Ziegler of The San Diego Union-Tribune says the Galaxy’s season ticket holders are the biggest losers — those who paid hundreds of dollars to see him play (poorly, albeit exhaustedly) in one 3-0 defeat to local rival Chivas USA.
He will miss 11 games and maybe more if the Galaxy fails to make the playoffs, which means his L.A. Galaxy statistics for 2007 would be 310 minutes, six games and one goal. Ziegler puts it another way: $20,968 per minute, $1.08 million per game, $6.5 million per goal. As USC marketing professor David Carter says, “Any time you see a player’s salary calculated by the minute, you know you’ve got a PR issue on your hands.”
Meanwhile, Galaxy fans were supposed to see Becks and they were supposed to see one of the strongest teams in MLS. Instead, they got almost no Becks and a team with almost no chance of making the playoffs. Worse, the team may lose captain Landon Donovan next season. Donovan earns $900,000 per year, which puts him well into designated player territory. L.A. was granted an exception this year, since the DP rule is new. Next year, the club will either have to trade for another DP slot or give Donovan up. “With that dubious backdrop,” says Ziegler, the Galaxy will begin its ticket renewal campaign.