L.A. Galaxy playing in Australia - Does anyone care?

The L.A. Galaxy a.k.a. the David Beckham show started their international tour of Australia yesterday with a 5-3 trouncing against Syndey FC. Although injuring his left ankle, Beckham gave the fans what they paid for in the Galaxy's only first-half goal in front of the 80,000+ in attendance. The A-League encounter was the team's first exhibition outside North America and was televised internationally. The question remains whether or not Alexi Lalas' vision of having his L.A. Galaxy squad become a world-reknown powerhouse in the likes of Beckham's former club, Real Madrid, is the right approach to helping American-based football as a whole.

The tour is heavily based upon modern "brand" marketing strategy with the Galaxy reportedly selling over 20,000 jerseys in Australia to date. Gaining a foothold in the international market as a so-called "powerhouse" seems to have launched as a success not withstanding using the aging David Beckham as the anchor behind the hype. Although billed with worldwide television coverage, this Australian friendly was not even available on any North American programming outlet and is being covered by virtually no American media source. This addresses a key flaw in Lalas' vision - why should foreigners care about a squad who cannot even generate enough interest in their own home country?

Although many football pundits here in the United States tend to criticize Lalas, especially after shedding his well-known locks and goatee for a more corporate suit-and-tie approach, I am not one to abhor his attempts of elevating his squad with a friendly tour. He must first come to realize that his supposed "powerhouse" failed to even qualify for their domestic league playoffs. With Beckham or without, American fans tend to quatify success in the standings and it can easily become laughable for them when a team at the bottom of the pack is being used to promote their product. The NFL's version of this marketing strategy was a success in American's eyes when the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins visited England last month as it produced an affair between two teams that this country actually cares about on a more national level. While no MLS squad has that level of appeal being that the sport is more of a niche in the United States, it doesn't help matters.

A more fitting approach than having the L.A. Galaxy or any MLS team for that matter go abroad would be to cement their appeal within their own borders first. Invite foreign-based club squads to have friendly matches in U.S. stadiums during our winter months. There must be financial benefits for English Premiership teams to even send their reserve squads over and gain more of a foothold in the lucrative U.S. marketplace. Lalas has claimed over the summer that the MLS is on par with the European leagues which was met by silenced guffaws across the ocean. Instead of trying to prove them wrong over on their home turf, why not first show Americans that we have a product to be proud of and support?

National pride and patriotism has been pushed to the forefront on many occasions. I believe that you must have the full backing of the American people (or at least the armchair fans) before claiming to be better than the 3rd-tier league status that the world views us. Even if then the MLS doesn't meet expectations and fails to realistically compete against world class giants like Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter Milan, etc. at least there will be American journalists covering the story and I can watch it unfold live in my living room at home in the United States.