ESPN: Beckham Boosts Ratings

ESPN offered some evidence Tuesday that English superstar/celeb David Beckham's coming to MLS could bolster ratings for the U.S. soccer league.

The network said its broadcast of a game Saturday in which Beckham made his debut with the L.A. Galaxy generated the highest ratings ever for an MLS game on ESPN or ESPN2.

The prime-time game--though Beckham played very little--drew an average of 1.5 million viewers and 947,000 households, topping the previously most-viewed telecast on ESPN or ESPN2 that came in 1996.

ESPN said the game against a high-profile English team Saturday marked the top-rated program in ad-supported cable for the night among men 18-to-49 and 25-to-54. Beckham's MLS debut also topped all non-World Cup U.S. Soccer National Team games--typically high-rated matches. In 1997, a game between the U.S. and Jamaica grabbed 915,000 viewers.

Beckham is scheduled to appear on ESPN2 five more times between Aug. 9 and Oct. 18. As a comparison, "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America"--the new reality show on NBC featuring Beckham's wife, ex-pop singer Victoria Beckham--scored 5 million viewers last Monday night.

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