What Messi’s Move to Miami Means for Apple’s MLS Season Pass Service – Sportico.com

News flash: Lionel Messi is popular. Very popular.

No one had to wait long to see how impactful his decision to join MLS’ Inter Miami would be. Ticket prices jumped by more than 1,000%. Miami’s Instagram following octupled, blowing past the likes of the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys. Even at the league level, Major League Soccer-related Google search traffic hit frequencies it hadn’t seen in a decade, if ever before.

That was all a given.

But how long will Messi Mania lift MLS? The answer might lie with the world’s most valuable company. 

As part of their 10-year media partnership, Apple and MLS have a number of levers they can pull to fully maximize the Messi Effect. How the two companies act once he steps on the pitch will provide a sense of how much of a priority they put on immediately generating revenue from their newfound star.

Will Messi’s debut game sit behind MLS Season Pass’ $15/month subscription paywall? Will Fox get to carry that match as part of its 15-game regular season package? Will Miami’s game times be moved to solo timeslots rather than MLS’ usual Saturday evening home? Apple could go even further, simulcasting that broadcast on a free platform like YouTube, as it has already experimented with using other MLS programming. 

MLS’s Apple deal reportedly played a part in helping the league land Messi, who could see direct monetary benefits from the expected increase in Season Pass subscribers. In that sense, the modern (if not futuristic) rights agreement allowed MLS to make a unique acquisition. And now the setup will be critical in maximizing that addition, given the scheduling flexibility, marketing might, direct financial upside and consumption data that comes with it.

“They may be in a better position to monetize this through Apple,” said Ed Desser, who helped the NBA expand its media footprint internationally and has since advised more than 60 leagues and teams as president of Desser Media. “In the old days, when everything was more or less on traditional linear networks, there was probably less of an opportunity to directly monetize it.” 

Still, he added, the benefits of the Messi deal will be more apparent in overall franchise values and the league’s long-term growth, rather than short-term revenue bumps.

“I believe MLS over this 10-year period is going to be huge,” Apple SVP of services Eddy Cue told Sportico before this season. “I don’t want to get in here to be the fourth or fifth or whatever biggest league in the United States. I want to be one of the biggest.”

The path to that destination does not include leveraging every potential dollar out of Messi’s appearances this year (and it’s not like Tim Cook needs the money). But just making his matches available to the world won’t be enough, either.

Apple executives have regularly harped on the global nature of their MLS rights—every game, available everywhere. Now, fans around the world have a reason to check out the service. Saying Messi has expanded the top of MLS’ fan acquisition funnel is an understatement on the level of saying the Argentinian is a decent footballer. 

“The international angle is where you kind of expect to see the most uptick,” Desser said. “In the big picture, this is about the credibility of Major League Soccer in the world of soccer leagues.”

According to Parrot Analytics’ measures of global consumption data, as well as online conversation and search trends, Messi is the world’s most in-demand athlete. His popularity is unsurprisingly highest in Argentina, France (where he most recently played) and the U.S., according to their metrics, but he also rates strongly in Brazil, Nigeria and India—the world over, pretty much. By Parrot’s count, Messi has “exceptional demand” (ranking in the top .04% of talent across genres) in 41 countries.

“It’s pretty incredible to see how dominant he is worldwide,” Parrot strategist Brandon Katz said. “Usually we’ll see someone rank that well in a handful of markets and then it tapers off.”

Now, the challenge will be turning those curious observers into actual MLS supporters. Modern fandom extends well beyond match windows. Apple and MLS will need to offer new global fans additional, compelling content to foster deeper relationships with the American clubs, as well as the sense of community that makes soccer special. Season Pass already caters to spanish-speaking viewers with unique versions of pregame and postgame shows, while every match is called in both languages. Ted Lasso, meanwhile, has given the company a beachhead in numerous markets, including Brazil, where the show saw its eighth-highest level of demand, according to Parrot’s numbers.  

Apple is further leaning into Messi’s international appeal with a recently announced docuseries. And when the company’s $3,500 Vision Pro headset launches next year, expect Apple to use content featuring their newest star to highlight the hardware’s capabilities. The magic of Messi is never knowing what he’s going to pull off next.