There is great debate over whether the David Beckham experiment in the MLS has worked. From this corner, there is little to debate. It has been a wild success and those that would argue otherwise had expectations that were unrealistic. Those that would argue against him may have been working on the premise that success from the Beckham experiment must mean an improved level of football on the levels of the top five leagues in Europe. That was never going to happen, but so much else did happen as a direct result of Beckham’s time in LA.
The actual amount of money that Beckham earned, is unknown. It appears the initial reports of a 5-year $250-milllion dollar contract were engineered by Beckham’s public relations team to make an even larger impact when he signed with the LA Galaxy. His actual contract with the team actually averaged closer to $6 million per year. Who knows exactly how much he received from ancillary sources, bonuses and sponsorship deals?
We do know that in Beckham’s first year in the MLS, the league sold 300,000 Beckham shirts. At approximately $100 each, you’re looking at $30,000,000 in revenue out of the gate. Surely the figure fell year over year, but there is no doubting his playing for the Galaxy helped to promote the MLS brand on a World scale that had never been experienced before.
While marketing the game abroad has certainly been impactful, the most important part of Beckham’s impact has been how he has helped to grow the league’s revenues and impact within North America.
Perhaps the best example of his impact can be seen by looking at the initial success of Toronto FC. Toronto’s MLS franchise had been sold for roughly $10 million. As they began to sell season tickets in the months leading up to their first season, the front office staff provided updates in an effort to show solid consumer demand. Prior to the announcement about Beckham signing, TFC had about 6,000 seats sold and demand had plateaued. Within a month of the announcement, all 18,000 season tickets and private boxes were sold and there was a buzz about the chance to watch David Beckham in Toronto. Ownership in Toronto enjoyed a five year run of sellouts and fan enthusiasm off the back of the Beckham signing.
The atmosphere shown in Toronto was contagious. Fans created an atmosphere reminiscent of South America or Turkey with endless chanting and noise. This atmosphere has carried over into new MLS teams in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver among others. The franchise fee for MLS teams has since grown to $40 million. There is no doubt that this kind of growth in franchise values and prices is due in large part to the excitement and legitimacy Beckham brought to the League.
Beckham of course is only one player, and can only play on one team. But it was Beckham’s arrival that paved the way for other players like Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane and Torsten Frings among others to join the MLS and increase its profile and the value of other teams.
Beckham will play his last game in the MLS on December 1st in the MLS Final against the Houston Dynamo. There has been great speculation about where he will end his career as he has stated he is ready for one more challenge. There have been rumours of a move to Australia’s A-League. But there are of course possibilities in China, the Middle-East or perhaps even back in Europe. The announcement of his departure from MLS before the final was a stroke of genius as it will certainly increase television ratings for his last game in America with the added potential that he may announce his future during the broadcast after the game is complete.
Several bookmakers have listed odds as to where they believe Beckham will land. Here are the shortest odds so far:
Paris Saint Germain: 6 to 4
Melbourne Heart: 6 to 1
Perth Glory: 8 to 1
New York Red Bulls: 10 to 1
QPR: 10 to 1
West Ham: 10 to 1
Shanghai Shenhua: 16 to 1
While Beckham will not have the same impact as he made on the MLS, there is no doubt his new employers will expect Beckham to help grow their brand with increased exposure around the World.