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Lionel Messi reportedly expected to make Inter Miami debut in July

Lionel Messi reportedly expected to make Inter Miami debut in July
The most sought after free agent in soccer history has made it official. Lionel Messi has announced his intention to play four of all teams of all places into Miami of major league soccer. The 35 year old saying yesterday, quote, I made the decision that I'm going to Miami. It's not finalized 100%. There are *** few things left but we decided to continue down this path. Messi told his current club Paris ST Germain that he would not continue with them past the end of his contract on June 30th. It then became *** bit of *** three horse race with the possibility of him rejoining Barcelona or *** mega deal in Saudi Arabia, *** multi year offer priced at well over *** billion dollars at *** time when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in the news seemingly every day for its massive investments into professional sports and its superstars. Soccer's biggest name chose the United States. It's *** remarkable bit of news to say the least and one with enormous financial applications for MLS its fans commercial contracts. And of course, Messi himself, when this Blockbuster deal becomes finalized, it will be in large part due to creative revenue sharing negotiations with names like Apple and Adidas. Joining me now to break down the money of Messi is Robin Lundberg of Sports Illustrated. Robin. I appreciate you being here. What do we know about how Mls Apple and Adidas all kind of sweeten the pot here to land the superstar in the US. You ever seen the movie Air? The one that recently came out if you watch that movie, when they're making the pitch to Michael Jordan, you know, his mom asks for *** revenue sharing deal in the sales of the sneaker. And they're like, what we don't do that that doesn't happen. But you know, they had to do something extra in order to land Michael Jordan at Nike at the time. And I think you're seeing that here *** little bit where Messi of course, has come in big dollars. I mean, we just saw what the Saudi League was going to offer him. So how does MLS compete with that? Well, there's the exposure, of course and the chance to build an empire in America, but you have to start somewhere. So what we've seen is that reportedly, you know, Apple is offering *** rev share on the MLS package and Adidas is offering *** rev share on the Jersey kit sales and the like for Inter Miami. So that's how you compete with the Saudi just pure salary. That's out there is saying, hey, Messi, not only are we going to pay you to play an MLS? But you can be *** partner with Adidas, you can be *** partner with Apple and we're going to give you an opportunity to get ownership share in the MLS going forward. And that does sweeten the pot and I think probably had something to do, at least with Messi deciding to go to Miami, the Saudi Arabia component. If we could talk about briefly *** little bit, I mean, it really can't be ignored, right? You had other superstars of the sport. Cristiano Ronaldo Karim Benzema, they landed huge deals to go play there. And of course, the messi announcement came just one day after what was already seemingly the biggest story in the sports world, the unexpected PGA live golf merger. It's interesting because Lionel Messi has this history. He promotes tourism to Saudi Arabia, especially on his social media pages and things like that. What do you make of his decision to go *** different path? I mean, it would seem as if Saudi Arabia had been kind of greasing the runway for *** bit with working with Messi over years to try and land him and he decides to go *** different way. Well, you know what I kind of think he went the path that we've seen before. The Saudi path seems like the new path, right? You know, Ronaldo Benzo, like you just mentioned and there's going to be more, you know, clearly it's inevitable. The bags are being thrown around and guys are going to take them. We just saw the PGA take it after, you know, sort of wagging their finger at the guys who had decided to defect over to live. But MLS was the place in the past where players *** little bit past their prime would go play whether it was Beckham or Latin or, you know, any of those players, Messi is the biggest name and probably the closest to still being great to do so because if he had gone to Saudi, I think at that point, you stop seeing the guys decide to go to MLS to finish off their career. Well, we will certainly all be watching, especially for everyone who will not be able to afford those exorbitant ticket prices. The graph of which as you've said now goes basically straight up like that. My special thanks there to Robin Lundberg of Sports Illustrated for taking the time to break down the money of Messi Robin. Thank you.
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Lionel Messi reportedly expected to make Inter Miami debut in July
Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is reportedly expected to make his Inter Miami debut on July 21, club managing owner Jorge Mas told a small group of reporters Monday, according to the Miami Herald.Inter Miami faces Mexico’s Cruz Azul in a Leagues Cup opening match that day at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.CNN has reached out to Inter Miami and Messi’s representatives for comment. According to the Miami Herald, Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas said the club and seven-time world Player of the Year Messi have agreed to a deal but are still finalizing the agreement. Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory last year and is widely regarded as one of soccer’s greatest-ever players, said he was going to play for the Major League Soccer club. “I made the decision that I am going to Miami,” he told Spanish outlets SPORT and Mundo Deportivo earlier this month. “I still haven’t closed it one hundred percent. I’m missing some things but we decided to continue my journey there.” 'Seminal moment'Mas told reporters that the Messi signing is “the one seminal moment” in the history of soccer in the U.S., according to the Miami Herald. “I think there will always be a before and after Messi when we talk about the sport in the United States. I have a very, very strong held belief that we can create in North America and the United States if not the greatest league, one of the top two leagues in the world,” Mas said. “I cannot overemphasize the magnitude of this announcement. “Having the world’s greatest player here is something that is significant for our league, and for the football ecosystem in the United States … Lionel Messi is coming to this country to win cups and make a difference. I think it’s incumbent upon myself and my partners in the league, the other owners, to seize the moment.” Mas said security will be enhanced for the Argentine superstar and the team, according to the Herald. “Players will be bussed in, going through a tunnel. All of those security protocols are already prepared both for here and away. And it’s not only for our games,” Mas said, according to the Herald.“It’s going to be an everyday occurrence and something we witnessed and I thought handled very well when (Messi) was here with Argentina before the World Cup.” Though Messi hasn’t yet stepped foot on the pitch for Miami, the club has already benefited from a huge boost in social media followers ahead of the highly anticipated move.Meanwhile, ticket prices all around the league are soaring as fans eagerly await Messi’s first visit to play against their teams with his new club: in the minutes after it was reported that the Argentine would be moving to the U.S., ticket prices for Inter Miami matches soared by more than 1,000%.According to the resale website TickPick, the cheapest ticket for Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul on July 21 was just $29, but in the 24 hours after news of Messi’s pending move emerged, the cheapest ticket was $329, TickPick reported on June 7 – a surge of 1,034%.

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is reportedly expected to make his Inter Miami debut on July 21, club managing owner Jorge Mas told a small group of reporters Monday, according to the Miami Herald.

Inter Miami faces Mexico’s Cruz Azul in a Leagues Cup opening match that day at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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CNN has reached out to Inter Miami and Messi’s representatives for comment.

According to the Miami Herald, Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas said the club and seven-time world Player of the Year Messi have agreed to a deal but are still finalizing the agreement.

Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory last year and is widely regarded as one of soccer’s greatest-ever players, said he was going to play for the Major League Soccer club.

“I made the decision that I am going to Miami,” he told Spanish outlets SPORT and Mundo Deportivo earlier this month. “I still haven’t closed it one hundred percent. I’m missing some things but we decided to continue my journey there.”

'Seminal moment'

Mas told reporters that the Messi signing is “the one seminal moment” in the history of soccer in the U.S., according to the Miami Herald.

“I think there will always be a before and after Messi when we talk about the sport in the United States. I have a very, very strong held belief that we can create in North America and the United States if not the greatest league, one of the top two leagues in the world,” Mas said. “I cannot overemphasize the magnitude of this announcement.

“Having the world’s greatest player here is something that is significant for our league, and for the football ecosystem in the United States … Lionel Messi is coming to this country to win cups and make a difference. I think it’s incumbent upon myself and my partners in the league, the other owners, to seize the moment.”

Mas said security will be enhanced for the Argentine superstar and the team, according to the Herald.

“Players will be bussed in, going through a tunnel. All of those security protocols are already prepared both for here and away. And it’s not only for our games,” Mas said, according to the Herald.

“It’s going to be an everyday occurrence and something we witnessed and I thought handled very well when (Messi) was here with Argentina before the World Cup.”

Though Messi hasn’t yet stepped foot on the pitch for Miami, the club has already benefited from a huge boost in social media followers ahead of the highly anticipated move.

Meanwhile, ticket prices all around the league are soaring as fans eagerly await Messi’s first visit to play against their teams with his new club: in the minutes after it was reported that the Argentine would be moving to the U.S., ticket prices for Inter Miami matches soared by more than 1,000%.

According to the resale website TickPick, the cheapest ticket for Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul on July 21 was just $29, but in the 24 hours after news of Messi’s pending move emerged, the cheapest ticket was $329, TickPick reported on June 7 – a surge of 1,034%.