Lionel Messi turned down a billion dollars from the Saudia Arabia soccer league to go play for Inter Miami FC in the MLS.
While the MLS doesn’t have the cap space to pay Messi billions of dollars like the Saudi Pro League, he received lucrative incentives that lured him to play in Miami.
As part of Messi’s contract, the Argentinian soccer player is set to receive royalties on every single Major League Soccer Season Pass signup on AppleTV.
Immediately after the announcement was made, Messi made an instant impact on soccer in the U.S.
Messi’s first Inter Miami debut brought in over 100,000 new sign-ups, and thanks to his new deal, he received a cut of every single one.
Messi Had 110,000 U.S. Signups During Inter Miami Debut
There has been a huge surge in U.S. Subscriptions for AppleTV and MLS Season passes since Messi’s debut for Inter Miami.
Messi put on his pink jersey for the first time on July 21 and MLS Season Pass saw over 110,000 new U.S. signups that day, up 1690 percent from the previous 24 hours.
Antenna, a subscription analytics company, found that Messi’s debut was bigger and drove more new subscriptions than the day MLS Season Pass became available and the opening day of the season.
Messi Drove 288,000 New MLS Season Pass Signups In First Month in League
Over the month of July, Messi has driven over 288,000 MLS Season Pass signups, leading to a huge increase in new users on the platform. In fact, the MLS only averaged 39,000 new subscriptions in the previous 3 months.
In a single month, Messi has increased MLS Season Pass subscriptions by 638 percent. Along with increasing ticket prices at every venue, fans are tuning in on the streaming platform more than ever before.
Messi’s contract for the MLS Season Pass and AppleTV+ is a sign of how rights and distribution partnerships with major sports leagues can benefit a streaming platform. Even AppleTV+ subscriptions have increased by 15 percent since Messi joined the league.
Apple sells the MLS Season pass for $14.99 or $49 per season to fans who don’t already subscribe to the streaming service. For fans who have AppleTV, they receive a discount of about $10 per season. The discrepancy in price has driven the sales of AppleTV among fans which has benefited the MLS, Apple, and Messi.
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