David Beckham Boosts MLS

I thought I’d follow up on my professional sports branding post from yesterday with a post about the quintessential Major League Soccer brand – David Beckham.  One of my favorite bloggers (and Brandcurve guest blogger), Gab Goldenberg of SEO ROI turned me onto Jason Peck’s blog where I found a post that lists a number of interesting statistics demonstrating the Beckham Effect.

Since David Beckham joined the Los Angeles Galaxy:

• Games in which David Beckham played this season drew almost twice as many fans as the average MLS game did. 
• Games in which David Beckham was scheduled to play but did not drew 75% more fans than the average MLS game.
• After David Beckham arrived to play with the Los Angeles Galaxy, attendance grew by 49%.
• MLS jersey sales are up by 780% (280% if you don’t count Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy jersey).
• MLS internet traffic was up 80% this year.

Those are some significant increases which can be primarily attributed to the Beckham Effect.  It’s always amazing to see a single professional athlete’s brand rise to superstardom on the playing field and off.  Since David Beckham came to the Los Angeles Galaxy, his stardom has risen to a whole new level.  It’s nice to see that powerful brand having a direct impact on soccer in the United States rather than just seeing it impact David’s wallet.

What do you think of the Beckham Effect?