“贝克汉姆热”席卷洛杉矶
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.
大卫·贝克汉姆自从登陆美国的娱乐之都（洛杉矶）后掀起不小的风浪，尽管他因受困于多时不愈的脚踝伤只为“新东家”上演了12分钟的“处子秀”。
这位32岁的足球巨星引发了洛杉矶银河队球迷空前的兴趣。
在上周六银河队与切尔西队的友谊赛中，这位最终以替补出阵的英格兰中场引爆家得堡体育中心。
尽管上场只有12分钟的时间，再加上4分钟的暂停时间，但贝克汉姆场上的每一个动作都博得全场2万7千名观众的阵阵喝彩。
这场比赛的直播共有约147万人收看，创下ESPN体育台美国职业足球大联盟球队比赛的收视率新高，大约占ESPN用户数的1%。
小贝在曼联和马德里俱乐部效力期间曾是最具市场价值的球员之一，如今他的23号银河队球衣也已成为销售排行上的冠军。
上周，小贝的23号球衣共售出20多万件。“贝克汉姆热”已席卷南加州甚至更远。
阿迪达斯足球用品营销经理克里斯·迈克盖尔在一份声明中说：“我们从未遇到过这种情况。”
“目前，洛杉矶银河队贝克汉姆的球衣是全球销量冠军。”
小贝的人气在他的“美国之旅”之初空前高涨，而与此同时，他在好莱坞（Tinseltown 是洛杉矶一处电影界名人经常露面的场所，常被用来指代好莱坞）也开始了新动作。
小贝和妻子、流行歌星维多莉亚赴美后住在离好友汤姆·克鲁斯和凯蒂·赫尔姆斯家不远的比弗利山豪宅，已然“抢占了先机”。
在小贝一家从马德里搬到洛杉矶之前，克鲁斯夫妇给了他们很多建议。夫妇俩还于上周日为小贝夫妇举行了一个接风宴，并邀请了很多明星到场。
