Beckham shifts the goalposts with gamble on esports boom

David Beckham is betting on the future success of video game company Guild Esports after renegotiating his lucrative £15 million contract with the company.

The former England football captain, a brand ambassador for the London-listed esports franchise, has agreed to give up guaranteed payments of £7.5m in favor of a larger share of the revenue.

Guild Esports announced its new deal with Beckham yesterday – just 24 hours after it signed a major sponsorship deal with media giant Sky.

Beckham owns a 4.7 percent stake in Guild, which manages teams that participate in video game tournaments.

Since Guild took up his services for a five-year deal in 2020, Guild has paid out more than £7million to Beckham over the first three years of the contract.

But Beckham will skip further fees of £3.5m and £4m for the last two years of the deal.

Instead, he will receive 20 percent of Guild’s merchandising and sponsorship revenue, at a previously agreed rate of 15 percent.

The company said this will “significantly reduce the company’s cash needs and align fees with business performance and continued success.”

Guild has lost more than 60 percent of its value since its stock market debut in October 2020 and its shares now trade at 2.7 pence.

But the price rose after it announced a three-year deal with Sky on Monday, the largest to date.

Sky has been awarded naming rights to Guild’s 9,831 square meter London office, while the brand will appear on the company’s team jersey. It is Sky’s first agreement with an esports company.

Guild chief executive Kal Hourd said: “This landmark partnership with Sky not only underscores Guild’s strength and value proposition as a top European team organization for major brands, but is also a testament to the massive popularity of esports as the fastest growing form of sports entertainment with a young and passionate global audience.’

The esports business also has deals with sandwich giant Subway and electronics company Samsung.