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Line 142: Beckham's involvement with [[Major League Soccer]] began while he was still a Real Madrid player when it was confirmed on 11 January 2007 that the world's most famous footballer would be leaving Madrid in six months in order to join MLS' [[Los Angeles Galaxy]]. The speculation about his new contract in Madrid was thus put to an end and the following day Beckham's official press conference was held in conjunction with the [[2007 MLS SuperDraft]].<ref>[http://la.galaxy.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20070110&content_id=81545&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp Events surround MLS SuperDraft]{{dead link\|date=June 2012}}</ref> Predictably, the announcement made top news all across the globe. Though many worldwide media outlets reported the deal to be worth US$250 million,<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/01/11/beckham.mls/ Beckham will play for MLS' L.A. Galaxy in $250M deal]; ''Sports Illustrated'', 11 January 2007</ref> the astronomical figure was soon revealed to be something of a PR stunt engineered by Beckham's media handlers (British representative agency [[19 Entertainment]]).<ref>''The Beckham Experiment'', Grant Wahl, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2010 paperback edition, p.43</ref> In order to maximise the media effect, in the press release they decided to list the potential sum that Beckham could make over the 5-year period from all his revenue sources, which in addition to his Galaxy pay also include his personal endorsements. Beckham's actual deal with the Galaxy was a 5-year contract worth US$32.5 million in total or $6.5 million per year.<ref>''The Beckham Experiment'', Grant Wahl, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2010 paperback edition, p.42</ref> The cost of his signing was spread evenly among the then 14 MLS teams rather than picked up just by LA Galaxy because the goal was to boost the standing in America of professional soccer as a whole, against the country’s indigenous sports.<ref>”American soccer: The Becks effect: Major League Soccer’s big investment seems to have paid off”, [[The Economist]], 19 Nov 2011.</ref> The high-profile acquisition paid immediate financial dividends for Galaxy long before Beckham joined the team. On the strength of the signing and the media frenzy it created, the club was able to pull off a new 5-year shirt sponsorship deal with [[Herbalife]] nutrition company worth US$20 million. The gate revenue peaked as well with 11,000 new season tickets holders and sold-out luxury suites (each one of the 42 inside the team's home ground, the [[The Home Depot Center\|Home Depot Center]]).<ref name="The Beckham Experiment p.44">''The Beckham Experiment'', Grant Wahl, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2010 paperback edition, p.44</ref> Even the LA Galaxy owners [[Anschutz Entertainment Group]] (AEG) saw an immediate spike in business. Involved on many business fronts worldwide, AEG was already leveraging its Beckham association in places such as China, where the company had been working aggressively in Shanghai and Beijing for years to receive clearance to build arenas and stadiums. The company's CEO [[Tim Leiweke]] put it as follows: "Suddenly, we're known as the company that owns the team that David Beckham is going to play for, so our world changed".<ref>''The Beckham Experiment'', Grant Wahl, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2010 paperback edition, p.45</ref>

David Beckham: Difference between revisions