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Why Beckham's a Bust
Celebutainers David and Posh were supposed to generate multimillions in fashion, music and movies. It never happened.
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Just ask the paparazzi, who would have been the first to benefit from the emergence of a new, bona fide celebrity family.
“He’s been no good at all for business,” said Frank Griffin of the Bauer-Griffin photo agency. Outside of a gaggle of about 20 photographers serving the British tabloid press, he said, nobody has shown much interest. Shots of a young Hollywood heart-throb like Zac Efron fetch anywhere from 100 to 1,000 times as much as photographs of Beckham.
“Nobody gives a s--- about him, except when he was doing the Calvin Klein stuffing-your-package commercials. Posh was doing as much as she could to expose herself, but it was all a big yawn,” Griffin added. “It’s still only f---ing soccer, you know? It’s of no interest to people like us.”
Elizabeth Snead of the Los Angeles Times’ Dish Rag blog was equally dismissive. “They did sink rather fast,” she said. “We could not help but note how sad and lonely Posh looked at Elton's Oscar party.... Just a year, and she's already a has-been.”
From the moment Beckham took the field in an inauspicious – and utterly forgettable – appearance for the last 15 minutes or so of a friendly match against the visiting English team Chelsea in July 2007, the hype has been exploding right and left. Arguably, it started exploding long before that, with Victoria’s bomb of a reality show, “Coming to America.”
Now it is apparent that the $250 million contract figure – or $50 million a year -- was a gross exaggeration. Beckham has been earning $6.5 million a year in player salary, plus perhaps a few million more from the sale of all those jerseys.
On the field, even when healthy, he hasn’t made much tangible difference – he is a playmaker who relies on competent teammates to score the goals he sets up, and Galaxy hasn’t given him a whole lot of competent teammates. Off the field, he hasn’t starred in a movie with Tom Cruise, or rapped with Jay-Z, or done any of the other things we were told might come to pass.
MLS officials are tacitly contrite about the expectations they set up. “As a young league fighting for its profile, maybe we did get carried away,” one former team manager said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It took on a life of its own. Maybe it’s something we’ve all looked back on and learned from.”
Financially, Anschutz and his company shouldn’t lose out too badly. If they get the $10 million they are seeking from AC Milan they should more or less break even on their Beckham investment. The main reason is the licensing rights to his jersey, which they will retain until 2011.
One can argue, in fact, that the jersey licensing agreement always was the most important piece of the Beckham pie. Jeff Bliss, of the Javelin Group sports marketing consultancy, pointed out that Beckham jersey-mania has also led to MLS merchandising deals with Adidas and Target.
“Without his clothes,” Bliss said of Beckham, “he probably wouldn’t be worth much.”
Comments
Anonymous Says
In the 70's NASL (North American Soccer League) brought Pele and Beckenbauer to the U.S. Also, playing at the time was Pete Best ... a pretty decent U.S. soccer player. I remember going to the L.A. Coliseum to see the NY Galaxy (with Pele) play the LA Aztecs. There were over 70,000 fans in the stands. But, in the end, for anyone that understands the fine points of American Football, or Baseball, or Basketball, they are more interesting than soccer. Your hands are the most versatile limbs on your body. So, a sport that takes full advantage of them has a lot more interesting potentials. Just because more people watch soccer does not make it a better sport.
Both my kids played soccer. Soccer is a pretty good sport, but all you Europeans who think we prefer other sports over soccer, just because there is no history is dead wrong. U.S. has the largest soccer playing population in the world. AYSO is huuuge here. But many kids here are raised as multi-sport kids, and as kids get older and become more coordinated, they switch to football, basketball, baseball, softball, ice hockey.
American Football and Baseball are very complex games (similar to the British cricket). These are the sports that take time to appreciate. It's not that we don't understand soccer. It's that Europeans don't understand American Football and Baseball.
Look at Basketball. That is a very simple sport, and so Europeans were able to catch on fairly quickly. Football and baseball are very complex.
Anyway, Beckham did nothing here in L.A. He was always injured, and couldn't help Galaxy that much. It was quite obvious that he was not enjoying it here. Nobody here cares that he is going back to Europe. He really made no impact in LA outside of soccer, and very little in soccer, too.
It's not that we don't know soccer. It's that you Europeans don't know Baseball and Football ... as Justin Timberlake said at the Espy awards ... here in the U.S. we have football that real men play.
chris morrell Says
Another factor dooming the whole thing..I give you the: "Palin foils football's attempt to break America phenomenon" .. A side-effect of the Sara Palin vice-presidential campaign as was.Remember?
I know it seems like another age,but..
The thing is ,her big "catchphrase" was some babble about "Haawkey Moms" right? Now,i'm pretty sure that this demographic used to be referred to as "Saawker Moms" .similar sort of thing..Women ,mainly white ASP's i'd guess,who have to drive to and later collect there offspring,usually girls apparently, from "Soccer", FOOTBALL practise.. Stopping on the way back to pick up there own "Joe Six pack" a crate of beer and throw that in the back of the SUV..they were definitely S M s or MILFs or GILFs or something...and they're really into it and everything...
Football,still largely a girls game in America,was going to go from strength to strength with the arrival of Becks..
When David Beckham moved to L.A and the big push for football er ,i mean Soccer,to embed in The U S of A...started again..they thought ..this time it might take off... the "World Series" could be put in the shade once and for all ..the "World Cup" actually means teams from around the World take part!! It would be Sawccer Sawccer all the friggin way..but NO.. That's all wiped out now,as those very same set of demographical ladies that brunch ,are now officially re-assigned the nomenclature "HOCKEY MOM"..in one fell swoop Football goes back to being that ball game where you can only kick it? you mean you cant throw the ball? It' s no coincidence that the best,most successful American player that even I can think of is a GOALKEEPER,the one player that is allowed to pick the ball up!... So ,with the necessity to keep his fitness levels up,in order to get a couple more England caps, and provide his wife with some prime retail therapy opportunities,David Beckham signed for Milan...Palin wiping out of the Soccer Mom profile just added insult to injury...It's just another big reminder that we may well share a language and a lot of popular culture with America,but there are still some healthy differences...thankfully.
Nick Says
Beckham is first and foremost a dedicated footballer. Special because in spite of his wealth/looks/glamourous wife he is more interested in playing both for England and at a top club than being a show pony for a crap American team.
That he is a regular for AC Milan is a remarkable achievement, as is his tally of caps for England and the likelihood that he will still go to the next World Cup as part of the English squad. Sure, there is a Beckham industry, but the reason he has transcended his sport is because he is a superb ambassador for football. Not especially skilled or fast, but committed and respected as an all-time great. And yes, he still fills stadia, both as a footballer and as a superstar. His attempt to cultivate US sports fans was worthy, but misguided. After all, this is the country that thinks NFL is a sport, not a parochial circus freak show and a nation that remains blind to the simple fact that to every country in the world (outside the US) football is played with a round ball.
Mike Says
This article is obviously written by someone who hasn't got the slightest clue about soccer. Of course a country that elects George W for 2 consecutive terms will like High School Musical more than the world's most popular sport.
High School Musical Vs. Soccer or Zac Efron vs. Beckham... hahaha.
LOL LOL LOL
These soccer experts who say that he is an average player... really? I guess that's why he played for "average" clubs like Manchester United, Real Madrid and now AC Milan.
I don't care much for Beckham, but this article is ridiculous.
And these people running the MLS are also clueless about soccer, they are just businessmen hungry for dollars.
DD Says
MSN.RU just named Becks the highest paid soccer player in the world with a €31.5M income.
That's a tad less than $50M but it ain't chump change either.
But the AEG should have just sold him to Milan and called the case closed.
Anonymous Says
This article is rubbish, Victoria was with all the famous celebs at the Elton John party, she wasn'ton her own she was with Eva, Sharron Stone, Kate Beck, Elton himself who she is a great friend of!! Many women around the world copy her style. With Soccer David worked his magic and gave a lot of public attention towards it, which is what he was suppost to do!! This article is total rubbish!!
Felix Says
You all crack me up! Beckham is a footballer and special because he is loved worldwide. He has been on some amazing teams and then thrown to the wolves with the LA Galaxy with no stars, that is right, a galaxy with no stars is a black hole. Beckham alone was never expected to win a championship and spur on the team to wins by himself. He did what he usually does but realized the team he was on was terrible no matter how he cut it. Football, soccer that is, will always dominate the world in its captivity. While the United States continues to enjoy hits home grown games our local soccer has made strides in its infant existence. MLS will grow and continue to do so in the face of opposition from the traditional standards and it will crumble down the walls that hold it back eventually. The sport is HUGE for a reason and it hasn't grown in the US because it has no history... yet. Beckham brought world attention to a small league eager for some attention and respect. Attention it has received but respect it has yet to earn. Beckham was right about one thing, MLS has a bright future and time will tell if its 5-15 years down the road. One day I believe SOCCER will surpass baseball for popularity and even trump their financial figures as well.
Anonymous Says
Pointless, inaccurate and clearly uninformed piece. The Wrap usually have very good insight into a variety of topics, but for this subject, you guys are clearly in over your head.
Very disappointing article.
Anonymous Says
AMERICAN FOOTBALL is almost a religion in this country. Soccer is good for the kids, but will never surpass NFL in this country... The Beckhams also looked like 'posers' ... no one here ever believed the hype!!! tally -ho!!
Anonymous Says
Jenius,
Actually a correction. Soccer is the most played sport in the US up until the collegiate level. Why pro has never worked out is less about the talent, and more about revenue. Soccer's season unfortunately falls at a time when it tries to compete with Baseball, Basketball, and even the Football preseason for network tv coverage. Now it can find a home on cable but the audience is too small to generate ticket sales. That and the philosophical problem that in the US we want a winner. Ties are hard to accept. JMHO
Jenius Says
He could have put up stellar numbers, played as if he were in his prime, and the result would have been much the same. The US does not have the tradition and quality of youth soccer necessary to really take off in popularity. Even hockey has enough regional support in the north and midwest to cultivate enough American talent for the NHL.
A sport is going to need infrastructure from the ground up in order to thrive. It took decades, but women's basketball finally did just that. Because enough high schools and junior highs take women's basketball seriously, enough talent is nurtured to produce a quality product on the professional level.
Bringing in a ringer is just novelty for already-existing fans.
Anonymous Says
That's great...Beckham is only good for his clothes (the jersey's he sells). So true, so true. As a soccer fan, I can speak confidently that he can't do much more on the field than some of the lowest paid Galaxy players. His name sells jerseys and fills (well, not anymore) stadiums... but is play is no longer special.
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