May 12, 2002: David Beckham Signs New Contract with Manchester United, Over 20 Percent of Compensation for Image Rights

After months of negotiations, David Beckham signs a new three-year contract with Manchester United. Beckham is to receive £70,000 a week in basic pay and £20,000 for use of his image rights, representing a 300 percent salary increase. It is the image rights issue that caused the negotiations to go on for so long. “The process of every player contract negotiation is different,” says United chief executive Peter Kenyon, “and one of the unique aspects of David’s was understanding how his global image could best be utilized to the mutual benefit of Manchester United and David himself.” [BBC, 5/12/2002] Clubs and players are keen to agree that a portion of compensation be paid for image rights, because it is taxed at a lower rate. [SportsPro, 2/25/2011] The new contract should take Beckham’s total earnings to around £11m a year. Although Beckham’s deal is not the highest in world football, Beckham receives so much from endorsements that he may overtake French midfielder Zinedine Zidane as football’s top earner. [BBC, 5/12/2002]