for a second I am going to leave my soccer fan mindset and jump in the suit of any PR company.
Selling the brand Beckham is a smart move and it works. It’s the perfect thing for the MLS. Ticket sales have gone up (Becks packs might not have been loved, but they still sold well), advertisers reach a wider audience with any MLS investment.

Kids, 6-10 years, find a new idol, making sure soccer will continue to be the second most important sport in that age category (or have numbers changed already since last year?) but most of all… David incorporates the American dream AND is a loving father.

David won’t improve the MLS today or tomorrow, if he finds a coach ready to bash him enough and kick his but, he’ll easily be the best player in the league without having to try too hard. But he will change the next 10 years of the MLS. He brings glamour to the MLS and be prepared to soon spot other celebs regularly visiting LA Galaxy, when he’ll finally play again.
The brand Beckham is a new, fashionable brand in the US, one easy to market and assure new investments. Finally combine glamour with soccer, probably even in a way we don’t know it here in Europe.
Mourinho with his quotable remarks also was a perfect marketing machine for Chelsea in the US. So will David be with his escapades, his luxurious lifestyle (eventho rather innocent compared to some other sport stars in the US), but in the end both together will behave less stupid than all the Paris and Britneys. They already know how it is to be chased by papperazzi and won’t make some of the typical mistakes ‘pop’ stars make.

On the pitch? Becks will never manage what neither Pele, Beckenbauer or Matthaus managed: turn soccer in to one of the most attractive sports in the US. Not on his own.
Soccer just isn’t as attractive as 4 football players tackling the same opponent.
And I have been playing soccer since I’m 6, am now 32, but when I saw the European Football (American Football that is) rise in Europe in participating towns, I understood where the marketing power of football is. Even if for a die hard soccer fan it’s hard to understand that college football sells easily 75k tickets out (Ohio Buckeyes).

Great article too, but “How about a low profile for both of them”????? Surely any type of wishful thinking you may have doesn’t go that far. I think A (comment #2) put it best: the Beckhams are too much in love with their self-image to stop plastering it on billboards and “fashion” magazines. It’s just not going to happen. Remember that in their world bad publicity is better than no publicity.

To be honest, Becks has been under the public eye long enough that this type of stuff shouldn’t bother him anymore. In fact, and I’m speaking strictly in footballing terms, I bet that what’s bothering him the most right now, is the fact he spent more than half of the MLS season out injured, and the the Galaxy’s hopes for playoffs qualification are hanging by a very thin thread.

If I had to pick the biggest fiasco between Victoria’s NBC program and Beckham’s contribution to the Galaxy, I’d have to choose Becks. Not because he doesn’t have the goods, but because you can’t call playing less than a month’s worth of games a success. What Beckham crucially needs right now is playing time, not to be worrying whether American public can’t appreciate his wife.

As for the article, I thought it was excellent. Well done.

NB he was brought to Real Madird partly because of his football skills. I think that he was the best right midfielder (not winger) ever!!!!