David Beckham has ended a lucrative sponsorship deal with Gillette, despite the offer of a new £3 million contract from the razor manufacturer.

After weeks of talks over an agreement to coincide with the start of the England midfielder’s spell at Los Angeles Galaxy, the two sides have decided to part company.

The move comes after a decision by Beckham’s advisers to boost his already huge earnings power by pushing for a profit-share agreement in his marketing and sponsorship deals.

Nearly two thirds of the estimated £10 million a year that Beckham, 32, earns from a global agreement with adidas comes from royalties on sales of Predator football boots, shinpads and sports clothing endorsed by the former Real Madrid star.

A large part of the £125 million, five-year deal signed with the American club in January was based on the former England captain receiving a percentage of the revenue that the club makes from increased shirt sales, season-ticket sales and marketing contracts. It is understood that Gillette, part of the Procter & Gamble empire, was willing to offer the star only a flat fee in a 12-month deal. It signed him to a three-year deal in 2004, but this agreement ran out on June 30.

A source close to the talks said: “Mr Beckham’s advisers have decided to move in a new direction.”

Gillette signed up Thierry Henry, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods for a global “Champions” campaign in January, sparking rumours that it was ready to let Beckham go. Nevertheless, the company started talks about a contract extension once his move to Major League Soccer in America had been confirmed. He won the Spanish championship with Real Madrid last month.

The midfield player, who is managed by Simon Fuller, the brains behind the reality television show American Idol, is estimated to be worth more than £110 million, a fortune that he shares with his wife, Victoria, “Posh Spice” from the Spice Girls pop group. Industry experts predict that Beckham’s status and celebrity appeal could soar in the United States once he begins his career in Los Angeles.

An advertising campaign featuring the former England captain begins on ESPN, the American sports channel, next week. He is also believed to be in talks with a US car manufacturer and a financial services firm about new sponsorship deals. Motorola, one of his global corporate backers alongside adidas, Pepsi and Coty, the fragrance manufacturer, is set to bring out a David Beckham handset.

Gillette signed up Beckham in 2004 shortly after Mr Fuller took over as his manager from the SFX agency. His face has adorned thousands of posters and advertisements backing the company’s Fusion and M3Power razors.

A recent survey by Birbeck Sports Business Centre claimed that more than half the people it had surveyed in the United States knew little or nothing about the footballer, and that Victoria was the more significant aspect of “brand Beckham”. However, his deal with the Los Angeles club is already thought to have made him the second-highest paid sports star in America, behind Tiger Woods, the golfer.

Mr Fuller has focused on boosting revenues through global campaigns with a select group of corporate clients, rather than agreeing localised deals such as those that linked Beckham with Marks & Spencer in Britain and Castrol in Japan.

A spokesman for Beckham yesterday said: “We have been in discussions with Gillette and there is no further news to add.”

Brand names

£10m a year from Adidas
£4.5m from Motorola
£4m from Coty
£2m from Pepsi
£2-3m from Gillette

*Source: industry estimates

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