Brand it with Beckham?

Well it finally happened.  David Beckham played significant minutes for the first time since ‘Coming to America’, and he dominated.  For all those (including Beckham’s own team LA Galaxy GM, Alexi Lalas) who continue to claim that MLS soccer is at the same level of English Premiership, Beckham, whose star has been diminishing in Europe, simply dominated in less than 70 minutes in his debut.  So what does this all mean, and what does it have to do with niche marketing?  Glad you asked…

As much as they don’t want to admit it, Major League Soccer is far from major league.  It’s Niche League at its finest – a sport which is marketing itself up against (minimally) four professional leagues in America made up of the world’s finest players.  Well there’s problem number one.  As has been pointed out many times by ESPN’s Bill Simmons, Beckham’s entrance to the MLS is a nice gimmick, but it’s not going to bring the league to the big time.  Quoth Simmons, in summation of his point:

“The fact remains: Americans will never care that Beckham is playing soccer in a league of half-decent guys, just like English people wouldn’t care if they had a mediocre baseball league and the London team signed A-Rod.”

And he’s right.  The MLS is a subpar league trying to step up and match the history and sentiment of Major League Baseball and the dominance and excitement of the National Football League with a collection of cast-off athletes from the European leagues – widely acknowledged as the best in the world.  Now this isn’t to say that soccer (or football, as everyone else in the world calls it) has no place in North America.  Toronto’s own team is proving that it most certainly does, accounting for eight of the league’s fifteen total sell out crowds this season while fielding a mediocre expansion team with no players near the caliber or name recognition of “Becks’ (I hate that nickname).

So how are they doing it?  As I wrote after my first game day experience at BMO Field, they’re doing it by catering to soccer fans with atmosphere and authenticity.  Beckham coming to America and being paid more per season than any team in the league pays their entire roster is like fitting a square peg into a round hole.  That’s not what this league is and they need to realize that trying to compete with the four major pro leagues simply isn’t feasible.  With superior soccer leagues in England, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and many other European countries, America has a long way to climb on the skill ladder and they’re lucky if Beckham’s arrival represents one rung.  This signing represents a very bold, go-for-the-gusto approach which simply doesn’t work if you’re trying to build a stable, long term fan base in this day and age.
We’re in a world where smaller, targeted audiences are increasingly becoming more than their weight in gold.  If all of MLS would commit, as Toronto FC has, to creating an authentic product (including legitimate soccer stadiums for achievable crowd sizes) that plays a more physical, North American style of soccer, then they can build a firm niche market.  But bringing over Beckham reeks of the old NASL‘s New York Cosmos signing Pele in the mid-70s.  The move brought the league recognition, sell out crowds, other declining international stars followed by complete financial insolvency and the dissolution of the league.
Doesn’t sound like a good model to follow if you’re trying to create a lasting brand to me.