After scoring points across Europe with animated action series Galactik Football, property owner Alphanim is ready to take a kick at the State-side market. And with awareness for Europe’s sport of choice on the rise in the US, as evidenced by MLS league expansion, a boost in ticket sales and the attention given to David Beckham’s emigration to L.A., the timing might be perfect.

L.A.-based outfit Al Ovadia & Associates will be managing the property in the region with a two-pronged approach. Agency namesake and owner Al Ovadia’s first order of business will be to find a TV home for the series. Taking note of Galactik Football’s success in Spain, where the show airs on four networks, he is looking hard at US Hispanic channels because the audience they target is already very much turned on to the sport.

Ovadia is working towards securing a fall 2008 launch date for the show, and with the European football championships taking place around the same time, it should be able to piggyback on this big sporting event. The toon’s European launch coincided with the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and that happy coincidence definitely helped attract an initial kid audience.

The US consumer products program will be based around strong character art, and Ovadia expects video games, toys, apparel, publishing, home décor, back-to-school and sporting equipment (naturally) to figure into the mix. Though the series targets kids six to 12, Ovadia thinks the merch program will spill over and under, depending on the product category. So video games, for example, could skew older than 12, while apparel might end up appealing to kids younger than six.