David Beckham was introduced by the Los Angeles Galaxy on Friday, initiating an intensive PR campaign that will culminate this weekend when he makes his Galaxy debut against Premiership side Chelsea. While Beckham’s arrival has brought the mainstream media attention that the MLS so desperately desires, it remains to be seen whether Beckham’s advent will improve the on-field product and inspire long-term financial stability.
Certainly, adding a bankable star such as Beckham (arguably the world’s biggest) is a great start for the budding league. But, let it be known that long-term success cannot be placed squarely on Beckham’s shoulders (just ask Pele!). As anyone with a sound business mind will tell you, one cannot survive on marketing alone, and it’s a confluence of emerging factors that will determine the league’s success. First, the league owners have begun building soccer-specific stadiums. There are currently six in operation this season, with a further three to be opened by 2008. Not only do these stadiums give the respective clubs the financial boost that they need to survive, but they vastly improve the in-game atmosphere by taking the matches out of the cavernous NFL stadiums and placing them in much cozier environs.The other key is consumer understanding. As the U.S. Hispanic population continues to grow, so too does soccer’s popularity. In fact, the Gold Cup final between the U.S. and
Mexico drew 41% more television households than the final game of the NHL’s Stanley Cup. The MLS understands that the Hispanic segment is the key to its success, as evidenced by the 2004 founding of Chivas
USA (sister club to
Mexico’s famous Chivas) and the recent signing of Mexican international Cuauhtemoc Blanco.The Beckham PR machine could not have been better timed. He enters the league at a time of exciting growth, where sound strategic thinking has made it so his presence is not the single factor that will determine success. Unfortunately for Pele, that was not the case for the doomed North American Soccer League. Pele packed stadiums around the country, but when he retired, so did professional American soccer.The lesson in all of this for today’s marketers is that there’s more to innovation than flash design and celebrity promotion. One needs sound strategic thinking on all business fronts to launch successful new brands, and to guard against potential snags when launching new products within existing brands (I mean, wouldn’t it be a pity if Beckham were immediately injured after all this hoopla?). Most significantly, the plight of the league reminds us exactly how important a keen understanding of one’s consumer is, especially as the excitement of Beckham’s arrival calms and the league’s strategic focus is again directed to the ever-increasing U.S. Hispanic population. As an obsessive (and American) world soccer fan, I do hope that Beckham adds some spice to the league, much as he has done for the Premiership and La Liga… I’m also hoping for some fantastic free-kicks like this
classic one for
England against
Greece.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 at 2:13 pm and is filed under Marketing.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 19th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
This is a nice attempt to talk about Beckham’s “Coming to America” (oh wait, that’s his wife’s reality show), but unfortunately I think you under-shot this one.
It’s hard to disagree with your obvious point about splash marketing isn’t enough to sustain a product- in this case an entire league. But your takeaway was “the lesson in all of this for today’s marketers is that there’s more to innovation than flash design and celebrity promotion.” Really? That’s it?
While I appreciate your obsession with the beautiful game, let me offer some further insight.
The purpose of signing Beckham is to sell tickets and merchandise. It will certainly do that. Will it improve on-field product (you weren’t sure)? It won’t. He’s not that good- despite the free kicks and crosses. Pele made people around him better, so did Jordan. Beckham is lucky to be in the same paragraph with those two, and only for personality, not for skill.
My understanding is Beckham is a pretty good guy; he’ll make a good spokesperson. I’ll take that any day compared to the NBA, MLB and NFL these days. He’ll contribute to the growth of the league by getting people to the stadium and by ensuring parents that their kids are playing a sport that still has good role models.
Will it inspire long-term financial stability? I don’t see how. As you noted, the success of the league is indeed based on a number of factors, but the real trick for the MLS is to balance two key consumers, not just one: Immigrants (not just Hispanics, although they are the most significant group), and youth (specifically suburban kids). Here’s the insight: Find your niche and attack. The MLS has found two attractive, growing audiences that are being underserved by other major sports. How can the MLS continue to attract these two seemingly different demographics?
So far they seem to be on the right path. They make it fun- fans sing without being encouraged by an organist, they make it affordable, and they share in the revenues across the league so they don’t end up like the NASL. By the way, all three characteristics are fairly un-American. And the facilities, yes, those are important. But they are more than just right-sized to create the right environment. Look a little further and you’ll see the strategy.
Chicago’s new stadium is on the southwest side’s fastest growing suburbs, yet not far from downtown. They capture the suburban youth and city immigrants (eastern Europeans are as important in Chicago as the Hispanic community). The Red Bulls’ planned new stadium in Harrison NJ, just outside NY, is located in a soccer hot-bed, with a combination of Irish, Italian and Hispanic populations. Harrison/Kearny, NJ is the childhood home of John Harkes, Tony Meola and Tab Ramos. The new Salt Lake City plan will include millions of dollars towards a youth soccer complex (okay, not many immigrants here. Players have noted it’s the one place the US National Team can play a “home game” against Mexico).
So not only is it more than Beckham, it might actually be detrimental to add a Hollywood star to the league if it leads them off-strategy. For a true soccer fan, I’d prefer a higher level of skill and continuing the fun. We’ll know we’ve succeeded when our national team players are turning down European contracts to play in the MLS. That may never come, but as Frank Deford so keenly said: “Soccer people on the incipient success of soccer are like President Bush on victory in Iraq. It’s always just around the corner.” Now that’s a good insight!