U.S soccer is hoping to benefit from the Beckhamania currently being whipped up in the media as Fridays official presentation of David Beckham at LA Galaxy draws near.
The countrys most prestigious sports magazine Sports Illustrated has a lengthy profile and interview with Beckham (the footballer) this week and media across the States are busy introducing their readers to a sportsman they are going to hear a lot more about.
Reuters correspondent Larry Fine interviewed US Soccer president Sunil Gulati on Tuesday and asked him whether Beckham could transform the status of soccer in America.
“Is Beckham going to be Pele or is Beckham going to be (Magic) Johnson and (Larry) Bird,” Gulati pondered. “The analogy being that Johnson and Bird took (NBA) basketball to another level. Pele took us up but we couldn’t sustain it. Sustaining the higher level, that’s the big issue. It’s not inevitable.”
Pele, of course, played in the old and ill-fated North American Soccer League (NASL) in the late seventies, the last time that the U.S tried imported stars to boost the game — before the league went bust. The big difference, as many in the game here have pointed out, is that this time there is a solid foundation in place before the hype begins.
But so far, much of that hype has focused not on the footballer or his club but on Beckhams wife, Spice Girls singer Victoria, who has been in the headlines over the past few days.
Those headlines are no accident she (or ‘her people’) made sure that America knew she was arriving by hosting a teleconference on Monday five days before her husbands first press conference.
And she will make her debut five days before Beckham takes the field for the first time. David is expected to take to the field against Chelsea in a friendly match on July 21 but on the 16th his wifes one-hour reality show Victoria Beckham Coming to America airs on NBC. (You can get a taste of the series here, as Victoria discusses the size of her breasts with Perez Hilton.)
So, who is going to gain more from the whole Beckhamania — Major League Soccer or the Spice Girls?
Simon Evans, Miami
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5 comments so far
I remember that when Beckham moved to Real Madrid, for all the media hysteria, there were many more fans of Victoria out on the street waiting to see her. There were hundreds of reporters waiting for David on the day he arrived but hardly any fans.
- Posted by kevYou always knew that show was was going to be rubbish but that’s a new low… And I could do without ever hearing her use the word “flesh” again as long as I live.
- Posted by LondonI’ve got a feeling he’s going to be a very big success. Stadiums are already selling out and he shouldn’t find it hard to stand out in that league, if he stays fit. Not sure about her. Were the Spice Girls big in the US or was it just a big European hallucination that left Americans blissfully unaffected?
- Posted by RafaThe woman is simply awful, and destined for obscurity and shopping despite the army of PR people she employs. I genuinely hope that Beckham can raise the profile of US soccer, though. With a whole lot of touring and some cleverly edited interviews he could just draw people in. After all, watching a game while eating hot dogs and ice cream in sunny Los Angeles has got to be a whole lot more fun than watching Oldham play on a frozen pitch while trying to shelter from the driving rain.
- Posted by fionaAt 250 million big ones over five years he´d better be a big success. God knows what they´ll do if he snaps a metatarsel in the opening game.
- Posted by Jack Doyle