Football in America
Beckham??s away win
Jan 12th 2007
From Economist.com
David Beckham won't make Americans watch soccer
DAVID BECKHAM gained the nickname ??Goldenballs? as much for his earning power as for his footballing skills. Even if the latter may be in decline, the news this week that England??s most famous footballer would join Los Angeles Galaxy at the end of Europe??s domestic season confirmed that he has lost none of the former. He will leave Real Madrid, one of Europe??s top clubs, in return for a five-year deal worth as much as $250m. The ex-captain of England is set to end his career with a team that is not even the best among the dozen clubs of America??s top league, Major League Soccer (MLS). But salary, image rights and a share of the profits should see Mr Beckham rake in the sort of sums he has grown used to having in Europe.
What America stands to gain in return is less obvious. Association football??soccer??has always struggled for popularity in the United States. LA Galaxy and America??s football authorities apparently believe that buying a 31-year-old megastar, albeit one near the end of his career, may somehow give a jolt to the game, encouraging the creation of similar audiences to those attracted by baseball, basketball and American football.
But Mr Beckham is unlikely to have a big impact. Football has long struggled to find big audiences. The North American Soccer League ran from 1968-84 and sometimes attracted decent crowds, especially after siging up ageing stars such as Pele and George Best. But when the flow of foreign talent dried up so did the crowds and the league was closed.
The latest attempt to sell soccer to America, MLS, was established as a condition of hosting the 1994 World Cup. It too has failed to thrive. Although dollars have been poured in by individuals and corporations keen to boost the game, it remains a peripheral spectator sport. MLS had predicted that crowds would grow by some 10-15% a year. But they have not. Matches drew an average of around 15,000 spectators a decade ago and get about the same today. Nor are viewers flocking to the small screen. Last November??s MLS Cup, won by Houston Dynamo, was watched in 800,000 households, a fifth fewer than the year before.
A common explanation is that viewers enthralled with high-scoring games like baseball and American football will never warm to a game that all too often ends at 0-0. Yet there should be a sizeable audience waiting to watch: perhaps 17m Americans, many of them young, Latino and female, play football. Many of these, one might expect, would also be ready to watch the game.
In fact, Americans interested in football may simply consider the domestic product to be substandard. Cable channels broadcast matches from the world??s top leagues to show how it should be played. A wage cap of under $2m per 18-man squad, intended to nurture domestic talent rather then expensive foreign imports, has deterred top athletes who can earn far more in other sports. A new rule, of which Mr Beckham has taken advantage, now allows a side to employ two designated players who are not covered by the capping system. His arrival may attract other top stars but an influx of European celebrities looking for a sinecure in their footballing dotage will hardly change the structure of the game in America.
Don Garber, who runs MLS, admitted last year that without the core support of Latinos professional soccer would not exist in America. Exhibition matches between Real Madrid, Barcelona and MLS sides drew big crowds last year. Many MLS sides are employing Spanish marketing teams and a mid-week competition with Mexican club sides is planned for next season. Latinos may not have the same draw for advertisers as the affluent middle-class folk whose children like to play the game. But if MLS wants to expand the clubs should consider importing rising stars from Spain and Latin America rather than overpaying players now somewhat past their best.
