Beckham to LA Galaxy for up to $275 million

A-Rod who? David Beckham is now the highest paid athlete in the US. He is letting his current contract with Real Madrid run out in June 2007 (his last game for Madrid will probably be in May because that's when their season ends). He then joins the Galaxy for a deal worth approximately $250 million. Here's how it breaks down according to the BBC (yearly):

An annual salary of $10m
His existing sponsorship contracts with his four sponsors - Motorola, Pepsi, Gillette and Volkswagen - are estimated to be worth $25m
His merchandising shirt sales will bring in $10m
His share of the club profits: $10m

Multiply all of that by five. That last one is a bit dubious. While the Galaxy were the first MLS team to have a profitable season, there is no way they make $10 million in profit per year.

I can't wait to see Jeff Larentowicz tackle/crunch Beckham and put him on his ass.

Seriously though I have a lot of respect for Beckham. I used to think he was a pampered whiny superstar but watching the World Cup where he was obviously sick but soldiered on anyway upped my respect for him. Plus while he isn't an international superstar in terms of skill he is still better than 95% of MLS players (there are a few I'd take over him at his position, like Clint Dempsey or Dwayne DeRosario). And I would agree with Alexei Lalas that he is the premier player in the world in terms of exposure. Most Americans know who he is thanks to his movie, whereas if they're lucky they might know that Brazilian who's name starts with an R that they can't pronounce.
This is a good deal for the league. Half my friends at happy hour tonight were telling me about this deal, plus my girlfriend, and none of them follow the sport. The immediate media hype will fade, but that's OK. The goal is not to maintain this level of media hype, the goal is merely to increase the level of media exposure. Beckham will be on ESPN for his first game, his first assist, his first goal, his first win, his first playoff victory, his first injury, his first American mistress, etc... One unfortunate thing is that Beckham probably only transfered over to MLS once he was told that he was out of the picture for England's national team (pure speculation on my part, but I doubt he will be picked while playing in MLS, and I don't think he would give up his national team career for MLS), so unfortunately L.A. Galaxy bandwagoners won't be buying FoxSoccerChannel to see him in an England shirt.

Anyways, in honor of Beckham's transfer to MLS, I present Ali G's interview of Posh & Becks!