Associated Press columnist Tim Dahlberg serves up a humorous (if short-sighted) denigration of David Beckham’s Great American Adventure. Here’s the gist: Beckham is more celebrity than soccer star, and while the American public will no doubt be transfixed by the arrival of Becks and his celebrity wife to the Hollywood Hills, but they will not suddenly be turned on by soccer.
“Americans, whose willingness to fall for hype has never been overestimated, will undoubtedly be entranced by it all,” says Dahlberg, and Beckham’s L.A. Galaxy debut against Chelsea on July 21 “will include everything except a concert by the Spice Girls.” ESPN is deploying 19 cameras for the match, including one that will be fixated on Beckham for the entire 90 minutes. Says Dahlberg: “If all goes well, someone might score a goal. If things really go well, Beckham will score a goal,” but it doesn’t mean people will immediately race out to buy season tickets or subscribe to an MLS season pass with their cable provider.
But it doesn’t mean that no one will, either. In fact, even before he’s kicked a ball, the Beckham effect is reverberating across MLS: his first games at several MLS venues are close to selling out and the L.A. Galaxy says it’s already more than recouped its investment for Year 1 of his five-year contract. Now it’s time to find out what kind of effect he has on merchandise sales and TV ratings. It certainly won’t be negative.