Monday, August 7, 2023 8:58 amMonday, August 7, 2023No Comments

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Lionel Messi, the greatest football player of all time, played his first Major League Soccer (MLS) game on Friday, July 21st, winning the game with a stellar goal, when his Inter Miami CF squad hosted Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup. Jorge Mas, the billionaire and managing owner of Inter Miami CF, believes Messi will entice millions of new subscribers, domestic and international, to the Apple TV+ streaming service.

Alex Webb for Bloomberg News:

Since joining Inter Miami CF last month, much has been written about how he can raise the profile of Major League Soccer both at home and abroad. Which would be good news for both the league and Apple Inc.

The iPhone maker signed a reported $250 million a year deal last year to secure MLS’s global broadcasting rights. The nature of the contract differs from those that, for instance, Amazon.com Inc. has with the National Football League, Premier League and others. Apple has the whole kaboodle: rights to broadcast every single match, everywhere.

Apple has such a vested interest in seeing MLS succeed that it played a seemingly significant role in bringing Messi to Miami. As part of his compensation package, the Argentine will get a cut of the revenue Apple makes from non-US subscriptions to its MLS package, which costs $99 a year and is separate from the typical Apple TV+ subscription.

It’s a significant detail because it seems to hint at what exactly Apple wants to get out of the deal, namely more international subscribers… In countries such as France, Apple licenses its shows to local broadcaster Canal+. That could indicate that it’s struggling to attract subscribers on its own there.

Messi could help. He was a sensation in France for the last two years when he played for the country’s biggest club. He has a huge global following, with some 481 million followers on Instagram.

MacDailyNews Take: It cannot be overstated how huge Messi in the MLS will be for soccer in America, just as the promise that Apple Vision Pro will soon offer for the presentation of all sports cannot be overstated.

As we wrote in early June of the pending deal:

[This is] multiple times bigger than David Beckham joining LA Galaxy in 2007. (As part of his deal, Beckham received the option to purchase an MLS expansion team for $25 million after he finished his playing career, which he did: Inter Miami.)

Messi to Inter Miami [will] be an immeasurable boon to MLS, Apple TV+, MLS Season Pass, football (soccer) in America, and, of course, Inter Miami (currently dead last in the MLS Eastern Conference; funnily enough, the same spot LA Galaxy currently occupies in the Western Conference. It seems as if all of the stars are somehow aligned).

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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]