World’s Richest Soccer Import
Footballer David Beckham Sells Tickets & Boosts Merchandise Sales
Becks has to play excellent soccer to overcome criticisms that he is an international trade commodity whose marketing glitz far outshines his on-field athletic abilities.
During the four years that Beckham played for Real Madrid, the Spanish club more than doubled soccer merchandise sales to US$600 million. According to Forbes.com, one million Real Madrid shirts were sold within the first 6 months of Beckham’s arrival.
Beckham earned about $27 million for the 12 months ending June 2006, including cash from lucrative celebrity endorsements.
LA Galaxy Sales Buzz
Back in January, LA Galaxy of the Major Soccer League announced that they had signed England’s 32-year-old midfielder to a five-year contract in hopes of cashing in on Beckham’s international marketing appeal. The ‘David Beckham comes to America’ buzz kicked into high gear, with Beckham appearing in commercials, advertisements and other promotions.
Beckham will earn $32.5 million over 5 years while playing for the Galaxy, plus about $200 million more in endorsements, merchandise and marketing fees.
Beverly Hills Beckham
Near the end of July, Tom Cruise and Will Smith hosted a gala welcoming party in downtown Los Angeles attended by A-list Hollywood celebrities. Becks, as he is affectionately called, and his wife ex-Spice Girl Posh (Victoria Beckham) have already participated in reality TV specials while settling into a mansion in star-studded Beverly Hills.
What makes Beckham unique is the fact that the handsome soccer star is a much-talked-about international celebrity, but not just among millions of passionate soccer fans around the world. Even consumers with no interest in sports are aware of David Beckham’s fame and have seen his face countless times on television and on posters in shopping malls.
Beckham as an Investment
Even before playing in a single Major Soccer League game, more than 300,000 official LA Galaxy jerseys were sold. At $79.99 per jersey, those preliminary sales totaled almost $24 million.
Fans in Major Soccer League cities have been snapping up tickets in hopes of seeing the soccer star in action. Home team LA Galaxy registered 2,000 season-ticket sales within hours of Beckham’s signing. While Toronto FC club had sold 8,000 season tickets before Beckham signed with Galaxy, that number rose by a third to 10,600 within 2 days of Galaxy’s announcement. Eight of the LA Galaxy’s remaining 11 road games were sold out as of August 1, 2007.
Galaxy management hopes that Beckham’s presence will also lead to lucrative television deals, with MSL games broadcast in all major international markets.
Soccer Skills in Question
Critics say that Beckham is past his prime as a soccer star. Beckham has yet to display the superstar qualities needed to inspire championship performances from a Galaxy squad that has won only 3 of its 12 games so far. Due to an ankle injury, Beckham recently disappointed Dallas ticket holders by not even appearing on the bench.
Part of Beckham’s challenge stems from the fact that seasoned LA sports fans can’t be easily fooled by media-driven Hollywood buzz. The true test will be whether the transplanted Brit can convert entrenched major league baseball, NFL football and NBA basketball enthusiasts into loyal, paying customers of professional soccer. This occurs at a time when all professional sports organizations are more aggressively competing for the income streams that come from international audiences.
Thirteen television cameras are used to cover LA Galaxy games, one of which will follow Beckham exclusively hoping to capture highlight reel material. To maintain his poster-boy image for the likes of Adidas Impossible is nothing sales campaign and Instinct cologne promotions, David Beckham will have to perform brilliantly every time he appears on the soccer field in an LA Galaxy uniform.
