a rare sight indeed in the football- and basketball-dominated heartland.
In Washington, D.C., officials are meeting to review security procedures and plans for Beckham's impending visit, a sign that the illustrious attacker's stopover creates its own unique challenges.
And in Dallas, general manager Michael Hitchcock is busily checking off media requests at a time when, absent of Beckham-related interest, he knows he'd be free to worry about other club matters.
It's all part of the broader Beckham bonanza. His influence over soccer in Los Angeles will be historic, of course. But his impact on a dozen other Major League Soccer clubs -- the ones besides Los Angeles, that is -- promises to be significant, as well.
Ticket sales are the obvious point of impact, and results in that area have hardly been disappointing. Red Bull New York has sold 30,000 seats for the Galaxy's Aug. 18 appearance. United officials had sold about 30,000 by late June, before seats went on sale to the public.
Across MLS, general managers agree that Beckham's appearances will easily produce sellouts in the league's soccer-specific stadiums and smaller venues, and will at least threaten to fill up the larger venues, such as Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and Giants Stadium.
But the England international's impact will be felt beyond just the number of bodies in the stands on those singular dates. For instance, most teams have bundled the Beckham visit into five-packs or 10-packs, and sales for those bundles have been brisk.
In Dallas, the contest was offered as part of a five-pack. Sales of the "Beckham pack" have already quadrupled something similar offered by the club last year, Hitchcock said.
Beyond that, clubs across MLS have been brainstorming for months on the best ways to maximize the league's greatest buzz generator yet.
"Like every other MLS team, we're trying to figure out how to make this work best for us not just over one game, but over a few games," Houston Dynamo general manager Oliver Luck said.
And Beckham's influence is not limited solely to revenue impact. The less tangible benefit of community buzz can have short- and long-term advantages that can't be measured in single-day tickets sales or on bar graphs of concession and parking revenue.
"Any sort of sports team, whether it's college, professional or whatever, you want something that's a hot ticket at some point every year," Luck said. "At some point, you want a ticket that people are talking about. MLS hasn't had much of that through the years."
In Kansas City, a relatively new ownership group is still putting its business plan in action and making the transition after years of Hunt Sports Group ownership. HSG, with intentions to sell, provided a very limited marketing budget over the past few years, according to current Wizards executive vice president Greg Cotton. This year's budget remains of the shoestring variety.
So the club needs to be smart with his marketing efforts, exacting the most from every possible opportunity. Beckham's appearance later this fall is exactly the kind of opportunity that's ripe for plucking.
So the Wizards are focusing their entire final quarter marketing efforts around the Galaxy's Sept. 27 visit to Arrowhead. The club has partnered with local chambers of commerce, with the Kansas City Sports Commission and with other professional sports outfits to create a sort of fall festival, centered in part on Beckham's appearance.
Conservatively, Cotton anticipates ticket sales of around 30,000 for the Galaxy's Thursday night (ESPN2) appearance. But with a little luck, the club could top 40,000 or more, which would establish the all-time record for a soccer match in the city. The current record is 37,319 for a U.S. World Cup qualifying match against Costa Rica in 2001.
Cotton says he knows some fans through the years who tried Wizards matches may have been turned off for one reason or another. And he also knows some area consumers just haven't had the right push to try their first soccer match. Beckham's appearance gives the Wizards a shot at both groups of potential fans.
"This provides that unique opportunity to get eyeballs on our guys and on our entertainment package out at Arrowhead that we've never had before," Cotton said. "And that's exciting for us, because once they experience the excitement of it, we know we can get them back."
Dallas will be the first MLS market outside of Los Angeles to get a heavy dose of local Beckham. Beckham's first appearance in a Galaxy jersey outside of Los Angeles, if everything goes as planned, will be in a July 31 SuperLiga match at Pizza Hut Park.
But the club plans to exploit the opportunity beyond that evening. For instance, several heavy-hitting CEOs have expressed interest in attending. And Hitchcock is more than willing to accommodate, especially since FC Dallas is in potential sponsorship talks with some of the companies. One is a potential jersey sponsor, and to drop that group smack into the middle of the significant Beckham frenzy can only enhance the club's appeal, Hitchcock said.
Hitchcock had a busy Friday morning, trying to make time for three local TV stations that wanted a piece of his time. They wanted local spin on the Beckham news conference out in Los Angeles, and hoped the FC Dallas general manager could provide it.
"And it's safe to say these guys aren't coming to us on a Friday before an away game if it's not for the Beckham press conference in the morning," Hitchcock said.
Outside of the media buzz generated, Hitchcock sees another benefit. This is the next opportunity for markets to approach all those soccer fans who aren't necessarily MLS fans. He knows they are out there, particularly within the Latino market in Texas.
That part of the community has a certain Beckham curiosity factor, too, and Hitchcock says it's important that clubs recognize the opportunity.
"It's our opportunity to make connections with some of these fans," he said. "If we can get them out here, show them a good product, put on a quality event for them, I think we have a good chance of making MLS fans out of them."
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
