“貝克漢姆熱”席捲洛杉磯
Beckham-mania takes root in California, and beyond
Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham waves beside his wife Victoria at a party
at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles July 22, 2007.[Reuters]
David Beckham has already made a significant splash since arriving in the America's entertainment capital, despite being restricted to a 12-minute debut for his new team because of a lingering ankle injury.
The 32-year-old, one of the most recognizable figures in the game, has triggered unprecedented fan interest at Los Angeles Galaxy.
The England midfielder lit up the Home Depot Center on Saturday when he finally came on as a substitute for the Galaxy in an exhibition match against Chelsea.
Although Beckham was on the field for only 12 minutes, plus four minutes of stoppage time, every move he made sparked an eruption of cheers from the capacity crowd of 27,000.
The match attracted a record television audience for a match involving a Major League Soccer team on ESPN of around 1.47 million. Roughly one percent of homes with ESPN tuned in to watch the action.
One of soccer's most marketable players during his time with Manchester United and Real Madrid, Beckham has already made his number 23 Galaxy shirt the biggest seller.
More than 200,000 replica shirts were snapped up by fans last week as Beckham-mania took root in Southern California and beyond.
"We have never come across anything like it," Chris McGuire, sports marketing manager for adidas soccer, said in a statement.
"At this time, the LA Galaxy David Beckham jersey is the No.1-selling shirt in the world."
While Beckham's popularity with the fans appears to be soaring to new heights at the start of his American Adventure, he is also making waves in Tinseltown.
David and his pop star wife Victoria enjoyed a head start as they live in Beverly Hills mansion not too far from close friends Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes.
The Cruises gave the Beckhams plenty of advice before their move from Madrid to Los Angeles and hosted an invitation-only, celebrity party for the English couple on Sunday.
大衛·貝克漢姆自從登陸美國的娛樂之都（洛杉磯）後掀起不小的風浪，儘管他因受困於多時不愈的腳踝傷只爲“新東家”上演了12分鐘的“處子秀”。
這位32歲的足球巨星引發了洛杉磯銀河隊球迷空前的興趣。
在上週六銀河隊與切爾西隊的友誼賽中，這位最終以替補出陣的英格蘭中場引爆家得堡體育中心。
儘管上場只有12分鐘的時間，再加上4分鐘的暫停時間，但貝克漢姆場上的每一個動作都博得全場2萬7千名觀衆的陣陣喝彩。
這場比賽的直播共有約147萬人收看，創下ESPN體育臺美國職業足球大聯盟球隊比賽的收視率新高，大約佔ESPN用戶數的1%。
小貝在曼聯和馬德里俱樂部效力期間曾是最具市場價值的球員之一，如今他的23號銀河隊球衣也已成爲銷售排行上的冠軍。
上週，小貝的23號球衣共售出20多萬件。“貝克漢姆熱”已席捲南加州甚至更遠。
阿迪達斯足球用品營銷經理克里斯·邁克蓋爾在一份聲明中說：“我們從未遇到過這種情況。”
“目前，洛杉磯銀河隊貝克漢姆的球衣是全球銷量冠軍。”
小貝的人氣在他的“美國之旅”之初空前高漲，而與此同時，他在好萊塢（Tinseltown 是洛杉磯一處電影界名人經常露面的場所，常被用來指代好萊塢）也開始了新動作。
小貝和妻子、流行歌星維多莉亞赴美后住在離好友湯姆·克魯斯和凱蒂·赫爾姆斯家不遠的比弗利山豪宅，已然“搶佔了先機”。
在小貝一家從馬德里搬到洛杉磯之前，克魯斯夫婦給了他們很多建議。夫婦倆還於上週日爲小貝夫婦舉行了一個接風宴，並邀請了很多明星到場。
