Football player Messi is now playing in Miami. Apple is also in business

On June 7, Lionel Messi, already a former striker of the Paris Saint-Germain football club, announced his transfer to the American club Inter Miami.

This deal came as a surprise to everyone, because practically no one considered such a transfer. But in the end, Apple, Adidas, David Beckham, the MLS Football League and Messi himself were the winners.

Potentially, this deal could enable Messi to establish his own football club or become the owner of an existing one. But first things first.

Messi refused to play for any European team except Barcelona

In an interview Sports world Messi said that after the end of the contract with PSG, he began to receive offers to move from many European clubs, but did not even consider them.

I had offers from other European teams, but I didn’t even consider them because my idea was to move to Barcelona.

Leo Messi

The refusal to play for European clubs is partly due to Messi’s unwillingness to play against Barcelona, ​​which is still his favorite team.

Messi could not go to Barcelona due to the club’s financial problems

In 2021, Barcelona were unable to renew Messi’s contract, so he had to leave the club.

Two years later, the financial situation in Barcelona has not improved. To pay Messi, Barcelona would have to cut the salaries of other players or sell someone, but the Argentine did not want to bring it to that.

I heard that they had to sell players or take a pay cut, and to be honest, I didn’t want to go through that or be responsible for all of that.

Leo Messi

Messi did not receive an official offer to move to Barcelona.

Messi refused to play for the Saudi club Al-Hilal for $400 million a year

In addition to European teams, Messi received an offer to play for Al-Hilal, a club in Saudi Arabia.

football player offered a record €400 million a yearand the contract itself was for two years.

For comparison, Cristiano Ronaldo receives $ 200 million from the Saudi Al-Nasr club, which makes him the highest paid athlete in the world according to Forbes.

Messi himself said that he would have moved to An-Nasr if he was only interested in money.

Messi moved to Inter Miami not only because of money

According to Messi, the transition to Inter Miami is partly due to the desire to move to the United States. It was a family decision, not just Messi himself.

The details of the contract were not disclosed, but according to Reutersit contains a clause allowing Messi to receive a share of ownership in the football club in the future.

For MSL (Major League Soccer – US professional football league), Messi’s transfer to Inter Miami became the largest and most important transfer since 2007, when David Beckham moved to Los Angeles Galaxy. He had similar terms in his contract.

Another motivation is the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in the United States, and in which Messi is going to perform.

What’s up with David Beckham

Inter Miami Football Club is owned by the Miami Beckham United investor group, led by David Beckham.

In January 2018 Messi congratulated Inter Miami and Beckham with admission to MLS.

Hello David! First of all, congratulations and I hope everything goes well for your project. Who knows, maybe in a few years you will call me.

Leo Messi

Without Beckham, Messi’s transition to Inter Miami was hardly possible.

Messi will receive money not only from Inter Miami, but also from Apple and Adidas

Messi signed a three-year contract with Inter Miami. Each year, the club will pay the player $50 million.

In addition, Apple will give Messi a share of the revenue generated by new MLS Season Pass subscribers, subscriptions to broadcast all MLS matches.

Last year Apple has signed a 10-year contract with MLS to show all league games. Now in the US, you can legally watch MLS football matches only on Apple TV +, and this also applies to Inter Miami. The contract between Apple and MLS is valued at $2.5 billion.

Adidas has been an MLS sponsor since 2006. According to The Athletic, the company will transfer to the Argentine a percentage of the income associated with his transfer to Inter Miami. In addition, Messi retained a personal lifetime contract with Adidas.

Apple to release Messi series on Apple TV+

Apple announced a four-episode series about Messi that tells about his career in the Argentina national team and his legendary victory at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

How much Messi will receive from this series is not reported. It is also unknown when it will be released.

Messi’s transfer to Inter Miami is a victory not only for the club, but for the entire league

Messi is considered one of the best football players in history, so his move to Inter Miami was a real sensation.

The number of Inter Miami followers on Instagram (the social network belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist in Russia and banned) increased from 1.1 million people to 6.5 million in less than a week.

The contract with Inter Miami will begin on July 1, while Messi’s first game for the club will take place on July 21 against Cruz Azul. After the news of the signing of Messi, the cost of tickets for the game grew from $29 to $467.

It is expected that the transfer of Messi will increase the income not only of Inter Miami, but of the entire MLS league by attracting new viewers. In turn, this will help popularize football in the United States.