After all, the iconic superstar played just 310 sporadic minutes for the Los Angeles Galaxy before suffering a season-ending knee injury - that's about $20,967 per minute, based on the $6.5 million his unprecedented contract guarantees him this season. And he won't join the Galaxy when they visit Real Salt Lake at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Wednesday night for what was supposed to be the most anticipated game of the season.
Some investment, huh?
Yet while fans in Utah are among the thousands around the league who have been disappointed at not seeing the legendary midfielder in person, the league and the Galaxy insist that they are far from disillusioned about their decision to sign one of the world's biggest celebrities to a five-year contract that could be worth as much as $250 million.
"In the big picture, it has been an unqualified success," said Alexi Lalas, the general manager of the Galaxy. "The positive impact that he has had - not just on the Galaxy, but on MLS and ultimately on soccer - in the space of four months, has been phenomenal."
Just not on the field.
The Galaxy are arguably the worst team in MLS - they're 4-12-5, having played two fewer games than 4-13-6 RSL - and won only one of the six games they played with Beckham in the lineup.
Part of the reason is that they have suffered a rash of injuries and played a brutally congested schedule in the second half of the season because the league sought to deliver Beckham for games in each of its other cities, in addition to having the Galaxy play in the inaugural SuperLiga tournament.
Yet signing Beckham sparked massive surges in attention, attendance, merchandise sales and traffic to the league's Web site, which the league believes indicate that its worldwide profile is higher than ever.
Sales of Beckham's No. 23 jersey have soared into the hundreds of thousands, for example - they seemed to be almost the only thing on sale at the concession stands at the Home Depot Center on a recent visit, with Beckham reportedly getting 40 percent to 50 percent of the revenue - while overall merchandise sales are expected to triple this season.
Already, the increased revenue has covered Beckham's salary for the next two years, according to Bloomberg News, and more than 1 million unique users visited mlsnet.com in July, according to comScore research firm.
That was more than twice the number who visited the previous July, with nearly half the visits coming from overseas.
"David has been a tremendous ambassador not just for the league, but for soccer overall in North America," league commissioner Don Garber said. "Without a doubt, he has raised the profile of the league both here and abroad."
What's more, the Galaxy have enjoyed several sellouts at the 27,000-seat Home Depot Center, drew 66,237 fans to Giants Stadium in New Jersey for Beckham's first start in a league game - RSL has sold a record 25,000 tickets for its game against the Galaxy - and drew a 1.0 rating on ESPN in Beckham's debut appearance in an exhibition against Chelsea of the English Premier League on July 21. That represented an audience of about 1.4 million people, a network record for a game involving an MLS team.
None of that, however, has stopped the criticism that the interest won't last.
Legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson skeptically questioned "what kind of impact" his former pupil at Manchester United can make - "David Beckham himself can't change the whole country," Ferguson said - and writer Steve Davis of ESPN.com said the league "stands to suffer from the backlash of over-reliance on Beckham to sell its brand."
Garber maintained that while corporate partners such as ESPN and other teams such as RSL have promoted Beckham heavily, "we have not used David in any media tours." He also said that "no one player, no one team" is going to immediately vault soccer into a firm place in the nation's sporting consciousness.
Indeed, both the team and the league emphasized that Beckham has signed for five years, so "we don't need to do everything in the first two weeks," as Lalas said.
Still, Lalas acknowledged that Beckham's presence has put a strain on some players unaccustomed to coping with the "circus-like atmosphere" that accompanies Beckham and his pop-star wife, Victoria. He hinted at an offseason roster overhaul aimed at "finding the right collection of players who not just survive in that situation, but thrive in it."
"We're dealing with a global interest in our brand, the likes of which our league has never seen," Lalas said. "That's a tremendous opportunity, if we use it properly. But there's also a transition process for us, too. There is no road map. We're all kind of figuring this out as we go along."
Including Chris Klein.
The former RSL midfielder was traded to the Galaxy in June, just in time to witness the Beckham phenomenon.
And though he believes that "the real effect that he's going to have is not going to be realized until he's playing every week," Klein also agreed with Lalas that "not even kicking a ball right now," Beckham is "doing a tremendous amount for soccer."
"He's just one of those guys who people want to be around, whether he's on the field or not," Klein said. "He could be on the sideline or in a suite in a suit and people want to take pictures. I mean, going through an airport with him is an experience unto itself."
mcl@sltrib.com
The Los Angeles Galaxy haven't had much luck since midfielder David Beckham made his debut for them:
Date Opponent Beckham Result
July 21 Chelsea* Substitute, 12 min. L, 1-0
July 24 Pachuca** Did not play W, 2-1
July 28 CD Guadalajara** Did not play L, 2-1
July 31 at FC Dallas** Did not play W, 6-5
Aug. 5 at Toronto FC Did not play T, 0-0
Aug. 9 at D.C. United Substitute, 21 min. L, 1-0
Aug. 12 at New England Did not play L, 1-0
Aug. 15 D.C. United** Starter, 63 min. W, 2-0
Aug. 18 at New York Starter, 90 min. L, 5-4
Aug. 23 Chivas USA Starter, 90 min. L, 3-0
Aug. 26 at Colorado Did not play L, 3-0
Aug. 29 Pachuca** Starter, 33 min. L, 1-1 (4-3 PKs)
Sept. 1 Real Salt Lake Did not play L, 2-1
Sept. 8 Colorado Did not play W, 3-1
Sept. 13 at Chivas USA Did not play L, 3-0
15 games 9 MLS, 6 other 4 starts, 285 minutes 4-10-1
* - exhibition game ** - SuperLiga game
