ESPN continues to give Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham marquee treatment. The network that gave Beckham’s debut a three hour pregame show in July has added Bob Ley and Lisa Salters to its broadcast team for the Chivas USA/L.A. Galaxy match on Thursday.
Ley will serve as pregame and halftime host, alongside Eric Wynalda. The pregame show will be expanded to a half-hour, as was the case for Beckham’s first MLS game in July. Salters will serve as a second sideline reporter, joining regular reporter Allen Hopkins.
So far, the two David Beckham matches televised on ESPN have drawn significantly higher ratings than other MLS telecasts. Beckham’s first game, a friendly against Chelsea FC, drew a 1.0 rating on ESPN — the highest rated, most watched MLS telecast ever on ESPN or ESPN2. Beckham’s first game against an MLS team, a match against D.C. United on August 9, drew a 0.5 rating on ESPN2; during the final fifteen minutes of the telecast, the rating rose to 0.8.
MLS telecasts had been averaging a 0.2 rating heading into Beckham’s debut.
