David Beckham earned a whopping amount of £400 million from two genius deals with an American football club, La Galaxy. The former Real Madrid captain left Real Madrid in 2007 with his family to move to Los Angeles.
Not only was he ignoring playing in the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid, but the midfielder also took a pay cut just to move to MLS.
Many football fans who have never heard of such transfers will be forever shaken by his decisions today.
Prior to joining the MLS, he was regarded as one of the greatest players in Premier League history, as well as in La Liga with Real Madrid.
Beckham, who was 31 years old at the time, was earning £16.6 million per year at the Santiago Bernabeu, but he accepted a deal with La Galaxy worth £5.4 million per year.
However, in reality, he earned seven times more than the stated amount when he joined the club in 2007.
It was revealed by sports and investigative expert, Joe Pompliano, that the contract was worth £42 million per year during his five years at the club.
This happened because the England international negotiated a deal to earn a certain percentage of La Galaxy’s revenue.
He earns from the club’s ticket sales and sponsorship deals. His earnings increased to around 212 million over the five years, with an additional 185 million on top of his original wages.
He was also arguably the highest-paid footballer at the time because no one else in the world was earning that much money.
There is another deal that made his earnings extremely high; he inserted a clause that gives him the right to buy an MLS expansion team for £20 million after he retired from playing football.
However, Beckham’s arrival had a positive influence on the MLS, with an increase in attendance and TV rights.
However, Beckham made 118 appearances with 20 goals, and the midfielder also won the MLS title twice during his stay at the club.
Pompliano also explained that the clause was the reason behind Inter Miami, which is owned by Beckham, being one of the newest clubs in the American League. Beckham had a deal to make Inter Miami join the MLS in 2020.
When Inter Miami played its first match in 2020, it was worth 24 times more than the expansion fee of £20 million signed by Beckham.
It means Beckham’s deal with La Galaxy 16 years ago, which was reported to be £5.4 million per year, had a return of £400 million. Beckham has also made millions this year.
He was made the face of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he made around $180 million. He was criticized for accepting the deal with a country that violates LGBTQ rights in their country.
