Lionel Messi unveiling by Inter Miami could be broadcast at half-time of Gold Cup final
Lionel Messi’s presentation as an Inter Miami player could be broadcast at half-time of the Gold Cup final on Sunday.
Major League Soccer is in discussions with CONCACAF, Fox and Univision to air a portion of the presentation, according to multiple sources briefed on the plans, who spoke anonymously to protect relationships.
Inter Miami announced an event, The Unveil, will begin at 8pm ET on Sunday (1am BST on Monday) at DRV Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Gold Cup final is scheduled to kick off at the same time at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Inter Miami’s statement, which does not name Messi, billed the full event as including “exciting entertainment, speeches on the pitch and more”.
The entire program will air on the MLS Season Pass app on Apple, one source said.
Executives with MLS and CONCACAF were in touch about the overlapping events, the sources said, and while details have not yet been finalized with Fox and Univision, the hope is to leverage two major regional soccer events and maximize the audience and impact.
The U.S. men’s national team face Panama while Mexico take on Jamaica in the Gold Cup semi-finals on Wednesday.
Messi is expected to arrive in the United States on Tuesday before an official announcement from the club this week, one source confirmed. He is currently on vacation in the Bahamas.
Messi to Miami — read more on The Athletic
Messi announced on June 7 that he would continue his career in Miami, choosing to play in MLS over options with Barcelona and Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal. The World Cup winner’s contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired at the end of June.
MLS has a 10-year, $2.5billion television deal with Apple, but it also has a four-year agreement to simulcast games on Fox. Univision is a long-time partner that currently has an agreement to broadcast some Leagues Cup games, the new competition between MLS and the Mexican league, Liga MX, that launches this summer. Messi is expected to debut on July 21 in Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup opener against Mexican side Cruz Azul.
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Inter Miami has also reportedly agreed terms with Messi’s former Barcelona team-mates, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. The club’s social media accounts teased Busquets’ arrival with a video on June 23. It’s unclear if the event on Sunday will also include Busquets and Alba.
Univision and Fox had not yet responded with comment at the time of publication.
How have MLS and Inter Miami enticed Messi?
MLS’s offer to Messi involves contributions from the league’s two biggest commercial partners.
Multiple sources involved in or briefed on the high-level league discussions — who, like all sources in this piece, will remain anonymous to protect relationships — have said MLS and Apple have discussed offering Messi a share of the revenue generated by new subscribers to MLS Season Pass, the league’s streaming package on Apple TV+. Both sides view Messi’s potential involvement in Major League Soccer as a boon; Apple and MLS signed a 10-year, $2.5billion agreement this spring. Apple also revealed a four-part docuseries chronicling Messi’s five World Cup appearances would stream on Apple TV+.
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Adidas, which is among MLS’ largest corporate sponsors, has prepared its own potential arrangement to entice Messi to the United States, multiple sources briefed on those plans told The Athletic. Messi is being offered a profit-sharing agreement with the sportswear giant, those sources said, which would involve the player receiving a cut of any increase in Adidas’ profits resulting from his involvement in MLS.
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Adidas has partnered with MLS since the league’s inception in 1996. The two sides renewed their partnership earlier this year, signing a six-year, $830million extension that runs through 2030. The German manufacturer supplies kits to all 29 MLS teams and also designs the league’s official match ball and is the league’s official footwear sponsor.
Messi himself has a long-standing relationship with Adidas, which started in 2006. In 2017, he signed a lifetime footwear sponsorship deal with the company.
Inter Miami — the lowdown
Inter Miami were established in 2018 and have been contesting MLS matches since 2020.
They are owned by brothers Jorge and Jose Mas alongside former England captain David Beckham, who played MLS football with LA Galaxy between 2007 and 2012 after more than a decade at Manchester United and four years at Real Madrid.
Inter Miami currently play at the 18,000-seater DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, but permission has been granted for construction to begin on Miami Freedom Park, a $1billion (£860m) stadium complex that will give Inter Miami a spectacular home.
The club endured a tumultuous period post-launch as they entered MLS during the COVID-19 pandemic and were later punished for breaking budget rules.
Their challenging spell has continued this term, with the franchise bottom of the Eastern Conference standings when Phil Neville was sacked.
(Photo: Peng Ziyang/Xinhua via Getty Images)
