The Richmond Kickers ruined that prospect by defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 July 10 in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

Carolina beat Chicago 1-0 Sunday, and had L.A. won its game, Carolina and L.A. would have played in Cary on Aug. 7 in the Open Cup quarterfinals.

Though this match won’t happen, ponder for a moment what might have been.

Triangle residents could have had the chance to see Beckham for themselves. He’s really not that great a footballer, but there’s still some cache to saying you saw him play.

Had Carolina beat L.A., that would’ve brought some exposure to the first-year franchise since it would have beaten two straight MLS teams in the Open Cup (to date, the RailHawks have only beaten three USL-1 teams).

What the organization must be kicking its feet about most, though, is this: Carolina would’ve gotten L.A., and perhaps Beckham, free of charge.

The Galaxy charge on appearance fee, rumored to be in the neighborhood of a half million dollars plus a portion of the gate receipts, in order to ensure Beckham’s presence for exhibition games. But since this would have been an Open Cup match, Carolina wouldn’t have had to pay a dime.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean Beckham would have played (we’ll get to that in a minute).

Why are the Galaxy commanding such a fee to play these exhibitions?

In short, because they can.

L.A. is set to play USL-1’s Vancouver Whitecaps on Oct. 7 in Vancouver. Kim Jackman, Vancouver’s media relations director, confirmed the organization paid the Galaxy a fee, but did not disclose the amount or say how Beckham’s participation in the match affected the negotiations.

The Galaxy are also to travel to Australia in November to play Sydney FC. Various reports there state the Football Federation of Australia paid the Galaxy millions of dollars to secure the game, with the understanding Beckham would play.

The idea of shelling out $500,000 or more to watch an above average midfielder run around for 90 minutes in a meaningless game seems excessive. It’s just the latest reminder that what really drives sports is the almighty dollar.

As stomach-churning as this scenario seems, it makes perfect sense.

Like it or not, the Galaxy, like every sports entity, are a business. The primary goal of a business is to make money — and lots of it.

Instead of the Open Cup match, say, for example, that Carolina scheduled an exhibition against the Galaxy, with the understanding Beckham would play.

Once the deal was finalized, the RailHawks would launch an advertising blitzkrieg that would make Beckham’s visit seem bigger than if he were the Pope and President of the United States put together.

The club would’ve jacked up ticket prices because the public — even those who normally wouldn’t go to a RailHawks game — would be more than happy to pay through the nose to see what all the fuss was about.

If the demand was high enough, Carolina probably would have tried to move the game to one of the area’s three college football stadiums, each of which has at least 50,000 seats.

More ticket sales at higher prices, plus the extra money from parking and concessions, and the RailHawks would have stood to make a pretty penny — even after the expenses of staging the game away from SAS Soccer Park.

But Carolina wouldn’t have made that mint because of a sudden, insane demand to watch the RailHawks. All the revenue would have been because of Beckham and the Galaxy.

Recognizing this, the Galaxy are demanding a slice of the profits being made off their brand.

It’s just smart business.

But back to the Open Cup match that isn’t going to happen.

When the quarterfinal locations were announced, Carolina advertised to fans during the Vancouver match July 3 that Beckham and the Galaxy might come. Planting that seed would have made someone (probably hundreds of someones) buy tickets expressly to see Beckham.

But I bet he wouldn’t have even played against the RailHawks.

The Galaxy play at Toronto Aug. 5 and at D.C. Aug. 9. They’re still trying to crawl back into the MLS playoff race. If L.A. can give Beckham a night off in the Open Cup — a tournament several MLS teams really don’t concern themselves with — I’m betting they would have.

Realize Beckham has been going almost full tilt since the fall of 2005.

After Real Madrid’s season ended in 2006, he went to the World Cup in Germany with the England National Team. Real Madrid, the Spanish club Beckham played for the last four seasons, started the 2006-07 season not long after the World Cup. And the La Liga campaign ended about a month ago. Beckham is supposed to make his Galaxy debut on Saturday. The MLS season runs until October. And he’s expected to play for England several times this fall. Assuming the Three Lions qualify, he’ll play in next summer’s European championships, too.

That’s a ton of miles on his 32-year-old legs.

With what transpired last week, though, it’s guaranteed none of those miles will be added in Cary.