Why is Beckham sitting on the bench for nothing?

Why is Beckham sitting on the bench for nothing?

David Beckham has won league championships in threecountries on two continents, earns millions of dollars in endorsements and hisname is practically synonymous with celebrity itself. He has his own cologne,for goodness sake. So why is he even bothering to sit on the bench for theParis Saint-Germain football club?

His royal highness of football doesn't need the money — andhe's said he'll donate his PSG salary to charity — but he does need to startthinking about life after the game. At 37, Beckham is practically a dinosaurfor the sport, and he acknowledged in his welcoming press conference onThursday that he probably won't be in the team's starting lineup.

Instead, Beckham may be beginning to put in place a plan forlife after the final whistle. Ellis Cashmore, a sociologist who writes aboutsports and media culture at Staffordshire University, said that prolongedexposure is always useful to celebrities building empires. In that way, thedeal with PSG does double work: It keeps his name in lights for longer and alsogarners extra attention for the charitable contribution.

"When he does stop playing, which is going to be quitesoon, his overall brand appeal will inevitably decline because we willinevitably forget about this guy," he said. "I think he's probablythinking, I want to stay in the shop window for a bit longer."

But Cashmore also cautioned against being too cynical inassessing Beckham's motives: "The guy is an athlete. He wants to do whathe loves to do."

Bruno Satin, an independent players' agent who was with IMGfor a decade, also said that the move to PSG — even if it's to sit on the bench— is a step up for Beckham.

"For him, to be on the PSG team, it's a higher levelthan being on the Los Angeles Galaxy," he said. "For the world offootball, for real football, the Los Angeles Galaxy is nothing on the map offootball."

Some wondered if Beckham was trying to avoid the notoriouslysticky fingers of the French state with his plans to donate his salary.

But Sandra Hodzic, a tax lawyer with Salans, said thededuction an individual can take on such contributions is limited. Instead, itwould be smarter for PSG to directly donate the salary — and take a big taxbreak in the process.

Doing so would have an added benefit for the club: UEFA, thegoverning body for European football, mandate that clubs break even. Thedonation could allow PSG to essentially write off Beckham's entire salary — a hugehelp for a team notorious for mega-contracts.

Beckham, meanwhile, would be better off trying to avoidbecoming a French tax resident at all. So far, Hodzic said, he is making allthe right moves: His family is staying in London, he plans to live only part-timein the country for less than six months, and his primary source of income—whether or not he donates his salary — isn't being earned in France.

Beckham's agent did not return calls for comment onspecifics of the contract.

Still, the charitable contribution has raised the questionabout what Beckham is getting out of the deal. For one, he likely is stillgetting a cut of rights to his image. Jerseys with his name on them werealready selling out at the PSG store on the Champs-Elysees on Friday.

Cashmore, who wrote a book called "Beckham," callshim a "marketing phenomenon" and estimates that about 70 percent ofBeckham's income comes from endorsement deals — with Adidas, for instance. Thatmakes salary almost irrelevant — especially for a man estimated by the SundayTimes Rich List to be worth 160 million pounds ($253 million).

But the football feeds the endorsements, Cashmore says.

"It makes an awful lot of business sense to perpetuate,to prolong his active competitive football career," he said, especiallywith a team that's doing fairly well this year. "It makes an awful lot ofsense for him to showcase himself because it will generate more income from hisvarious other sponsorship and licensing activities."

But certainly this move, as any at this late-stage in hisplaying career, is being made with an eye on what will come next. Cashmore saidthat when Beckham signed with the L.A. Galaxy, there was an understanding thathe would eventually become an ambassador for American soccer. That plan clearlyfell by the wayside — perhaps because Major League Soccer decided it was justtoo expensive to keep on the star after his presence on American soil failed togenerate more interest in the game.

It's possible, Cashmore said, that Beckham is looking for asimilar deal after his stint at PSG, which is Qatari owned. The tiny, wealthynation is hosting the World Cup in 2022, and Beckham's contract with PSG willestablish a relationship with it; from there, a role as, say, an ambassador forthe tournament would seem more natural.

"For his after-career conversion, it's important tohave links with major actors in the world of sports," said Satin. AndQatar is certainly one. It has poured money into PSG, drawing major names likestriker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It also funds the satellite network Al Jazeera,which could provide Beckham with a platform. And then there's the World Cup.

In the end, though, Satin said the clue to Beckham'sthinking may be as simple as the eternal draw of Paris.

"PSG has become a glamorous club, a pretty nice club ina beautiful city," said Bruno Satin, an agent. "It's just two hourson the Eurostar (train) from London."

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