David Beckham may be preparing for his last hurrah aroundHollywood, but as the athlete fades, his image-makers are keeping many balls inplay.
In truth, his worth as a team player was on its way downwhen he left Real Madrid for the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007. What he has beenselling ever since is Brand Beckham. The official statement that Beckham, now37, seeks one more soccer challenge has set off a gold rush in Australia,China, England and possibly even in New York, with the Red Bulls of MajorLeague Soccer; all are linked to a deal that trades the last legs of Beckhamfor the dollars yet to be wrung out of his celebrity.
Good luck to whoever gets him, though; with his wife,Victoria and their kids ensconced in the California lifestyle, don’t bet on thetenure abroad lasting too long. He will go where the brand is best served, butlike it said in his departure note, he may come back to the United States as anowner.
Certainly, he is rich enough.
His game might not be. In two places, Spain and America, hislegacy changed the fiscal rules around soccer.
When Real Madrid signed him in 2003, the Spanish governmentwas in the process of drafting a decree that changed the rules regarding thetaxation of foreign workers in Spain. In effect, it let wealthy foreigners payless in taxes than Spanish citizens and became known as the Beckham Law.
From that time until now, when the ongoing economic problemsforced a rethinking of that decree, countless players and other highly paidVIP’s got away with paying a tax rate in Spain of only 24.75 percent.
That rate is scheduled to jump to 52 percent, thoughCristiano Ronaldo and others will doubtless not have to pay a cent if theemployers cover it. Cristiano may still net his 10 million euros, or $13million, but Real Madrid may have to double its outlay to keep him happy.
The pouting, rather than celebrating, after Ronaldo scored agoal a couple of months back was in part because of the wrangling over a newcontract for him, beyond the current one that runs to 2015.
Back to the Beckham effect. When Anschutz EntertainmentGroup, the owner of the Galaxy, wanted to take him to Los Angeles, it first hadto persuade the Major League Soccer to break its salary cap.
For a second time, the Beckham name became attached to achange of financial allowances. The MLS agreed to a “designated player rule”that, in effect, allowed Beckham, and then a few others, to be paid more thanthe rest of their teammates combined.
A hallowed principle in many sports in the United States,the salary cap, was altered.
By how much? That has been between the Galaxy and theBeckhams, but suffice to say, the soccer family easily afforded their $18.2million home in Beverly Hills, close to their friend, Tom Cruise.
Come to think of it, Beckham also has a house in Dubai, somaybe the list of potential new grounds for his last hurrah as a player mustembrace the Middle East as well.
We will hear soon enough whether all the talk Down Underreally does mean David’s ears are open to a stint there, perhaps for the 10games that would remain of the Australian season by the time he would beavailable. Melbourne Heart and Central Coast Mariners have jumped aboard thespeculation train, while the media are wondering whether Western SydneyWanderers could rustle up the cash to sign Beckham as a rival attraction toAlessandro Del Piero, the Italian player who joined Sydney FC this year.
Beckham’s signing off from the Galaxy, after the MLS Cupmatch Dec. 1, means the league, and the endorsement companies, must findanother face to carry them through the future. It might require some deepthinking because, while there have always been better players in the world thanBeckham, none has his instant marketing appeal.
Even when Beckham was a part-time player, carried by LandonDonovan and the other Los Angeles players, his management group could sell himin the United States like no other soccer star. The same management,incidentally, just landed another coup in the United States after its newclient, Lewis Hamilton, won the inaugural Formula One race on Sunday in Austin,Texas.
