Beckham and MLS Defuse Donovan’s Comments With Smooth Spin

Professional soccer, specifically the MLS (Major League Soccer), received a ton of media attention this week thanks to a newly released book containing comments from one of America’s biggest soccer stars severely criticizing the world’s biggest soccer star.

“The Beckham Experiment – How the World’s Most Famous Athlete Tried to Conquer America” by Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl examines David Beckham’s impact on America and the MLS after signing a five-year contract in 2007 to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The book was officially released Tuesday (July 14) and created a major media storm due to comments in the book from the Galaxy’s Landon Donovan, America’s top player, questioning Beckham’s professionalism and commit to their team – really doing a number on him.

The basis of Donovan’s harsh remarks stems from Beckham’s “part-time” play with the Galaxy, jumping back-n-forth between the American team, where he is under contract, and AC Milan. Beckham’s “loan” to the Italian soccer club was supposed to last until March but was extended through the middle of July, causing Beckham to miss training camp and half the Galaxy’s regular season.

So during an interview for Wahl’s book, Donovan lashed out and slammed his teammate who, by the way, earns $5.5 million-a-year from the Galaxy (considerably more than Donavan’s $900,000 annual salary).

This, certainly, is not the first time an athlete has publicly criticized and insulted a teammate in the media. But what’s remarkable about this situation is the impressive public relations work done by Beckham, the Galaxy and the MLS to not only defuse Donovan’s incendiary words but spin the controversy to promote the game.

Donovan’s remarks in the book were not made in anger or frustration, say, following a tough loss. He was relaxed and comfortable and had time to think about and carefully choose this words to Wahl.

Donovan may regret the media and public’s reaction to his comments, but he had to of meant what he said.

When excerpts with the harsh words began to circulate in the media, the Galaxy and the MLS immediately recognized that trouble was a brewin’ and acted swiftly and affectively – instructing Donovan to publicly apologize and smooth over the situation with Beckham.

Donovan abided, issuing an apology and explaining that he had made a mistake by not discussing his feelings with Beckham personally.

Donovan’s apology was constructed well by the Galaxy and MLS. He admitted he shouldn’t have said what he said but, at the same time, he saved some face by not backing down from his words – just the manor in which he expressed them.

Beckham, the world’s most popular soccer player and one the most famous athletes overall, handled the entire situation like a pro. He said all of the right things (defending himself and not taking any shots at Donovan) while making all of the media rounds, including an appearance on NBC’s Today Show for an interview with Matt Lauer.

That’s a huge publicity plug for the struggling MLS.

Beckham has been a class act throughout the whole ordeal and has done a first-rate PR job for the Galaxy and the MLS.

The “importation of Beckham to America experiment” has failed, to this point, to live up to expectations. Attendance figures, television ratings and even the Galaxy’s performance have all suffered and lacked any significant improvement since the arrival of the British superstar.

Donovan’s comments only magnified the Beckham disaster and embarrassed his team and league.

But despite all of the unfortunate and negative publicity he has endured in America and with the Galaxy, Beckham still stepped up and faced the Donovan situation eloquently and professionally.

Beckham’s commitment and dedication to American soccer is definitely questionable in a sports sense, but in a PR sense he gets the job done.