David Beckham earned nearly $16.5 million from personal sponsorship deals during his first full season with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2008. Newly released accounts from the official British company registry show that Beckham’s income from his Footwork Productions company in the year ending Dec. 31, 2008, soared by 91 percent from the previous year. The company’s gross profit of $20 million only includes income from personal endorsements and is believed to account for two-thirds of Beckham’s sponsorship income. A separate company receives his $5.5 million basic salary from the Galaxy, the share of the merchandising he generates for the MLS team and joint endorsements with his wife, Victoria. Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_y...YF?slug=ap-beckham-finances&prov=ap&type=lgns
That's because people thought that by going to MLS he was going to miraculously fade into oblivion and lose his talent in the "Mickey Mouse" league of America. When he proved that to be wildly false, they came-a-callin'.
When the Herbalife sponsorship runs its course, the Galaxy should just emblazon "David Beckham" across the front of the jersey
I think you will find he and his wife made the odd Dollar before arriving in the states too. He could probably buy MLS full stop.
Beckham revenues miss target by 50% Which is actually way below the projected amounts that would have led to him making "$250 million in five years". Add in the $8m salary and he's only making half of what his signing press release indicated. A better thread title would be "Beckham's sponsorship revenues disappoint" or "Beckham revenues miss target by 50%"
And you will find that you GREATLY underestimate the worth of the league. He'd have lots of trouble even owning one team by himself, because of the various expansion fees and stadium rent and such.
He said in an interview he still wants to buy a team when he retires. I'd love to see him buy a team from either Kronke, Kraft or Hunts. They suck.
I totally agree and add Wolfe. I think Beckham would be a fantastic owner given his experience in the United youth set-up, commitment to his academy's and his experiences with two of the most storied football clubs in the world. It makes me wonder if MLS should start wooing English owners who've been priced out of football back home. The English know how to set-up and run football clubs from the academy although way up to the boardroom. With salary caps, no relegation, a large talent pool and lower wages, there is plenty of potential right now in America without the risks associated in European football.
I doubt Becks would be much interested in that type of team though. I suspect he'd be more interested in buying one in a glamorous market, like a second New York team or one in Miami. I think he would also make more difference in a market like that than in one like SJ or Columbus. Fwiw, England is also hardly the only place where that's happened, though it might be the place where the transition has taken place the most quickly.
Kroenke's only reason for buying the Rapids was to get a local government to help him build a new concernt venue that he could then use to drive commercial development around it. Unless you're going to buy the stadium from him as well as the team he won't be selling any time soon.
Re: Beckham revenues miss target by 50% To say that the revenue "soared" is to compare to something real (his prior revenue). To say that it "disappointed" would effectively be to buy into that PR hype-line from when he originally showed up here by comparing to something fake. EDIT, although, looking back at the article, there's this:
We all cheer for the Federal Trade Commission Multi Level Marketing trade association magazine article mentions MLS sponsorships.
Re: Beckham revenues miss target by 50% But the press releases weren't "fake". They have have been overly optimistic projections, but they also used them to ride a wave of free publicity. To "forget" or "ignore" them now and used positive phrasing like "soared" is just as disingenuous as the original press releases. Why use propagandistic words at all. Why not just mention the facts. "Beckham earned $16 million in sponsorship revenues, whereas at the time of his signing, projections released by the team put expectations as high as $40 million in sponsorship in addition to his reported $8 million playing salary."
Re: Beckham revenues miss target by 50% They were. Written by Beckham's handlers according to Grant Wahl's book - but still released by the team. Basically, three years into a five year deal, Becks in nowhere near on pace to earn $250 million. I don't think there's anything in calling that out.
Re: Beckham revenues miss target by 50% Two other sources of Beckvenue are a share of ticket sales, especially for exhibitions, and image rights/share of jersey sales. Do these numbers include those figures?
Something similar is already happening in the USL. See Crystal Palace USA and the Austin Aztex. The Aztex's owner and chairman is a Stoke City board member and the two clubs have a close relationship. I have no doubt that there are lots of people in Europe that are watching closely to see how these teams (as well as Miami FC) do, both in terms of making money here and developing/scouting talent for the home clubs.