Lionel Messi to Inter Miami confirmed, and Apple is helping to foot the bill

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By John-Anthony Disotto
last updated

Apple seals the deal.

Lionel Messi
(Image credit: Paris Saint Germain)

Lionel Messi has chosen his next club, and it's Inter Miami. The world's greatest footballer is joining the MLS with help from Apple, which is giving Messi revenue share from the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV Plus.

The transfer has been confirmed by multiple football journalists, including trusted source, Fabrizio Romano with his famous "HERE WE GO."

Earlier today, The Athletic reported that MLS' two biggest commercial partners are contributing to help fund the deal, one of which is Adidas, and the other is Apple.

"Multiple sources involved in or briefed on the high-level league discussions said earlier this week that 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, $2.5 billion agreement this spring. On Tuesday, Apple revealed that a four-part docuseries chronicling Messi’s five World Cup appearances would stream on Apple TV+."

With Apple's backing alongside Adidas, Messi will now play under the Miami sun, and with a percentage of profits from Apple TV Plus subscribers watching MLS, a cut of any Adidas' profits increase from him joining the league, and the option of buying an MLS club when he retires, it's a pretty good deal for the Argentine.

Apple TV Plus announces Lionel Messi documentary

Apple TV Plus also announced a new untitled four-part documentary series showcasing Messi's "World Cup career yesterday, culminating in his dramatic Qatar 2022 win."

The show will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes access to Messi and is filmed in Paris, Qatar, and Argentina. The documentary is executive produced by Emmy Award winner Tim Pastore (“Free Solo,” “Jane”), Emmy and Tony Award winners Patrick Milling Smith and Brian Carmody, and Emmy Award winner Matt Renner (“Free Solo,” “Limitless with Chris Hemsworth”) of SMUGGLER Entertainment, alongside Jon Henion (“Welcome to Wrexham”) and Juan Camilo Cruz (“In Her Hands”).

Apple showed its sporting prowess with the release of Real Madrid: Until The End earlier this year and looks set to dive further into the world of sport with this highly anticipated look into the life of Messi.

With Messi set to join Inter Miami, Apple has played a massive role in one of the biggest stories of the summer, not just in the VR headset space.

John-Anthony Disotto
John-Anthony Disotto
How To Editor

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019.  John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit.