It seems like it happens every couple years. The promoters of major league soccer have finally found the secret ingredient needed to give soccer mass appeal as a spectator sport in the United States -- some advertising promotion, strategic partnership, or, in this case, the high-profile signing pf real Madrid soccer star/Posh Spice's Hubby/The Original Metrosexual, David Beckham. At 31 years of age, the British midfielder is already on the downside of his playing career, and there are a bunch of reasons this gimmick won't work:

1. The only people in the United States (other than die-hard soccer fans who, presumably, already watch MLS) who care about David Beckham are celebrity gossip followers -- and these people are unlikely to become MLS fans because of David Beckham. Sure, they might go to one game out of curiosity, or buy a poster of him -- but this will not translate into success for Major League Soccer as a whole.

2. The 18- to 35-year-old football, hockey, and baseball fans that soccer really would need to attract to become a viable spectator sport just don't care about professional soccer, or David Beckham. They might buy a copy of Maxim with Victoria Beckham on the cover, but they don't really care about David. If anything, a lot of men hate him for being so classy and good-looking.

3, This blatant PR gimmick runs the risk of alienating the few core soccer fans MLS can count on by turning their sport into a media circus. Think of Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore.

The Wall Street Journal points out numerous endorsement deals and media buzz that the league has generated in the wake of the Beckham signing. But I'll be surprised if anyone cares in a few years. Wasn't Freddy Adu supposed to generate lasting interest in soccer?

Can major league soccer succeed? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 24 Mar 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.