One of the greatest players ever to lace up a pair of boots in world football, this week former England captain David Beckham has been the name on everyone’s lips as he clinched one of the biggest and most lucrative deals in the history of the game, taking Argentinian legend Lionel Messi Stateside.
Beckham could bend the ball in the corner of the net from 30 yards under extreme pressure like he was shelling peas. Who can forget his dramatic last-gasp equalizer into the top corner against Greece to send England to the 2002 World Cup? Yet many people are not so knowledgeable about Beckham in business.
The David Beckham Brand Empire
Recent reports speculate that without including the wealth of his wife Victoria, David Beckham alone is worth around $450 million, which he allegedly spends on a range of hobbies including art, cars and Elvis memorabilia.
‘He probably is already the richest English player ever, mainly because he is the best looking one and has monetised the Beckham brand and expanded his portfolio of business investments as opposed to just being a player,’ says Kieran Maguire, a business in football expert at Liverpool University. He believes the Beckham-Messi deal is not as simple as it appears.
“Whilst revenues will increase, so will costs, and Inter Miami fans may think that Messi can win matches on his own. If so they are going to be disappointed. He needs water carriers around him!”
This week we spoke to one of the men in football who has been close to Beckham in both his football and business career. Talent agent Terry Byrne, the founder of Round World Talent Agency, worked for Beckham for nine years. The former England star is Godfather to his son.
“First of all David is friends with Lionel Messi and that goes back a long way. When I was working with David we did a lot of Adidas campaigns together, so there is a friendship there. David would have influenced this opportunity and would have helped that decision be made,” he says.
What’s Behind David Beckham’s Business Savvy?
Byrne was Beckham’s right-hand man in the Real Madrid days and later too when the player moved to LA Galaxy near the end of an illustrious playing career in 2007.
“I think he has done very well in business. I think he has conducted himself very well and the brands he has worked with he has worked with for a very long time. I would argue that the brands who have paid him to be an ambassador have done very well,” he says, recalling a hard-working Christmas during Beckham’s days at Real Madrid.
“We were living in Madrid and David was asked by Motorola to go to Japan over Christmas to launch a new flip phone. We agreed to do it and he and I flew to Japan there and back in 36 hours and literally just launched the phone. That handset became the fastest-selling phone across the whole of Asia!” he says.
Byrne reckons the best decision Beckham made when he finished playing was to sidestep offers of football management – a job of pressure and stress that always ends with the sack – in favour of being an owner and brand ambassador.
“I think he’s smart, he’s intelligent, he’s got his own ideas. His thought process is very clear on what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. He is not easily influenced by others. That’s for sure. He is articulate enough to put across what he wants to do,” he says.
How Was the David Beckham Brand Built?
Byrne reckons it is practice and perseverance that are behind the Beckham business story – discipline honed on the pitch.
“It was during the time at LA Galaxy. After training, I was looking down on the pitch and one of the players was sitting on the floor and said to David there’s a box on the second floor with the door open – could you hit the door? Could you put the ball through the door? He rolled the ball out of his feet and fired this arrow from the pitch, maybe sixty-seventy feet into the air, and first attempt – straight through the door! Now that doesn’t happen by coincidence, that’s hard work. That is practise; he used to do 30 free kicks every Tuesday and Thursday, 10 from the left, 10 from the right and 10 from the middle. So when he scores a goal against Greece in the last minute that takes England to the World Cup by putting it into the top corner- it is pure hard work.”
A hard road in business and football you face if you want to bend it – and coin it – like Beckham – but the determination carried throughout his footballing career and beyond has built his brand and reaped its rewards for the England great.
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Brand it Like Beckham: What You Can Learn from the Beckham Business Ethos
One of the greatest players ever to lace up a pair of boots in world football, this week former England captain David Beckham has been the name on everyone’s lips as he clinched one of the biggest and most lucrative deals in the history of the game, taking Argentinian legend Lionel Messi Stateside.
Beckham could bend the ball in the corner of the net from 30 yards under extreme pressure like he was shelling peas. Who can forget his dramatic last-gasp equalizer into the top corner against Greece to send England to the 2002 World Cup? Yet many people are not so knowledgeable about Beckham in business.
The David Beckham Brand Empire
Recent reports speculate that without including the wealth of his wife Victoria, David Beckham alone is worth around $450 million, which he allegedly spends on a range of hobbies including art, cars and Elvis memorabilia.
‘He probably is already the richest English player ever, mainly because he is the best looking one and has monetised the Beckham brand and expanded his portfolio of business investments as opposed to just being a player,’ says Kieran Maguire, a business in football expert at Liverpool University. He believes the Beckham-Messi deal is not as simple as it appears.
“Whilst revenues will increase, so will costs, and Inter Miami fans may think that Messi can win matches on his own. If so they are going to be disappointed. He needs water carriers around him!”
This week we spoke to one of the men in football who has been close to Beckham in both his football and business career. Talent agent Terry Byrne, the founder of Round World Talent Agency, worked for Beckham for nine years. The former England star is Godfather to his son.
“First of all David is friends with Lionel Messi and that goes back a long way. When I was working with David we did a lot of Adidas campaigns together, so there is a friendship there. David would have influenced this opportunity and would have helped that decision be made,” he says.
What’s Behind David Beckham’s Business Savvy?
Byrne was Beckham’s right-hand man in the Real Madrid days and later too when the player moved to LA Galaxy near the end of an illustrious playing career in 2007.
“I think he has done very well in business. I think he has conducted himself very well and the brands he has worked with he has worked with for a very long time. I would argue that the brands who have paid him to be an ambassador have done very well,” he says, recalling a hard-working Christmas during Beckham’s days at Real Madrid.
“We were living in Madrid and David was asked by Motorola to go to Japan over Christmas to launch a new flip phone. We agreed to do it and he and I flew to Japan there and back in 36 hours and literally just launched the phone. That handset became the fastest-selling phone across the whole of Asia!” he says.
Byrne reckons the best decision Beckham made when he finished playing was to sidestep offers of football management – a job of pressure and stress that always ends with the sack – in favour of being an owner and brand ambassador.
“I think he’s smart, he’s intelligent, he’s got his own ideas. His thought process is very clear on what he wants to do and how he wants to do it. He is not easily influenced by others. That’s for sure. He is articulate enough to put across what he wants to do,” he says.
How Was the David Beckham Brand Built?
Byrne reckons it is practice and perseverance that are behind the Beckham business story – discipline honed on the pitch.
“It was during the time at LA Galaxy. After training, I was looking down on the pitch and one of the players was sitting on the floor and said to David there’s a box on the second floor with the door open – could you hit the door? Could you put the ball through the door? He rolled the ball out of his feet and fired this arrow from the pitch, maybe sixty-seventy feet into the air, and first attempt – straight through the door! Now that doesn’t happen by coincidence, that’s hard work. That is practise; he used to do 30 free kicks every Tuesday and Thursday, 10 from the left, 10 from the right and 10 from the middle. So when he scores a goal against Greece in the last minute that takes England to the World Cup by putting it into the top corner- it is pure hard work.”
A hard road in business and football you face if you want to bend it – and coin it – like Beckham – but the determination carried throughout his footballing career and beyond has built his brand and reaped its rewards for the England great.
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