Beckham's Real Salary

ESPN is reporting something that has been speculated on since the announcement of David Beckham's signing by the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer (MLS), the real salary. According to ESPN's source, $27.5 million over 5 years is the actual salary that the league and LA's owners AEG are paying Beckham. The MLS is paying $400,000 per year with AEG picking up the remaining $5.1 million. Originally the league's press releases pegged the deal as having the possible value of $250 million. The press ran with that as though it were a given. There were many rumors after that over his actual salary with many pegging it at $9 million / year. Off hand, this seems to make the Beckham deal a steal.