The entertainment and sports world's are buzzing with excitement. What's the media frenzy about? Two things.
- David Beckham, his wife Victoria (Posh Spice) and their children have moved to the United States.
- David Beckham makes his U.S. Major League Soccer debut as a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy on July 21st.
David Beckham is as much a celebrity for his soccer skills as his personal life these days, and that popularity should translate to publicity, ticket sales and profits for Major League Soccer, ESPN and everyone else involved in the David Beckham exploitation that will inevitably prevail over the next few years. Already, David and Victoria Beckham's faces have graced the cover of countless magazines and entertainment news shows.
What's next in the advertising campaign from team ESPN and Wieden+Kennedy? Just a few small things according to Adweek:
- A television commercial (watch it below)
- A digital takeoever of ESPN.com the day before the game
- Print ads in USA Today and ESPN the Magazine
- Radio ads
- Full coverage of David Beckham's debut game with expanded pre and post show reports and interviews
- ESPN special one-hour documentary, David Beckham: New Beginnings
- A "Beckham camera" which will follow solely what David Beckham is doing on the field during his debut game for visitors at espn360.com
At least they nixxed the idea for 10,000 soccer balls with David Beckham's picture on them.
What do you think? Is David Beckham's entry into the realm of United States Major League Soccer a "landmark moment" or "historic moment" as Scott Guglielmino, ESPN's vice president of programming and acquisitions stated? Or is ESPN and Major League Soccer putting too much faith (and money) into David Beckham? Will he bring professional soccer in the United States to the same level of popularity it experiences in Europe and other parts of the world? Or is this marketing plan short-sighted and too narrowly focused? What do you think?
I'm not biting. I remember back in the 70's & 80's Minnesota had a pro soccer team called "The Kicks" and the only reason I went to see a game is that the Beach Boys were giving a free concert during half-time. I'm pretty sure they retired the team not long afterwards or it relocated to a more soccer-friendly state.
MLS might be more popular considering the large number of kids that are now growing up playing the sport and large number of immigrants who are rabid fans, but would expect them to remain loyal to their preferred team somewhere else in the world rather than tuning into an MLS game. As far as converting an American audience; I find it hard to believe they'll have much chance against our well established love of Baseball and Football. Although as we saw with Hockey, a players strike and rising ticket prices could drive away loyal fans and then maybe MLS would have a chance.
Posted by: Scott | July 23, 2007 8:49 AM | Permalink to Comment