Messi To Inter Miami : The business point of view

Lionel Messi's move to the Major League Soccer (MLS) has a business standpoint other than just footballing reasons. Inter Miami signed him, amid interests from Saudi clubs and his former club, Barcelona. And here's why he chose Inter Miami instead of billion dollars and playing in Europe.

What encouraged Messi to leave PSG?

The 35 year old Argentine is considered to be the greatest footballer in our generation by many people. He has won 7 Ballon d'Ors, most by any player in the world and other individual awards too like Fifa Player of the year, World Cup Golden Ball and more.

With Barcelona, he has won 4 Champions League trophies, 10 La Liga titles and many major trophies. With PSG too he has won the French League. But PSG fans are not a fan of Messi as they jeered Messi a couple of times during matches.

And in 2021, he has finally won the FIFA World Cup with Argentina and achieved his livelong goal of doing so. His goal after the World Cup has perhaps changed and he now wants to put himself and his family first. He said, "I want to get back to enjoy myself, to enjoy my family, my children, the day-to-day" while announcing his decision to leave Paris Saint German and join, not Barcelona, not any Saudi club but Inter Miami, a MLS club, co-owned by David Beckham.

Barcelona did try to sign him as he wanted to return to Camp Nou, but they couldn't work out a deal which looked appealing to Messi. And Messi was very clear from the very beginning that if he stayed in Europe he wouldn't play for any club other than Barcelona but unfortunately that didn't work out.

Why did Messi sign for Inter Miami?

It wasn't easy for Inter Miami to sign Messi. They had to fight off the financial power of Saudi Arabia and Messi's love for Barcelona. It took them months of negotiations with MLS, the Miami ownership, Adidas and even Apple.

In 2022, Apple just signed a 10 year broadcast agreement with MLS. Every League match is gonna be broadcasted for the subscribers to the MLS Season Pass streaming service on Apple TV. The foundation of MLS's $2.5 billion agreement with Apple depends on the number of subscriptions bought, a portion of which could go to Messi as part of his deal, according to The Athletic.

Apple TV has also announced a four-episode documentary series that would showcase Messi's World Cup triumph as part of the deal to make the Argentine excited about this MLS move.

Adidas, who are Messi's long term sponsor, are also a sponsor of MLS. They've also offered Messi a portion of profits derived from his arrival in the MLS in merchandise sales.

Messi is going to also acquire more than 1/3rd of Inter Miami, similar toh David Beckham's transfer to MLS. Inter Miami has also sacked their current manager Phil Neville. Messi's signing would give Inter Miami a huge boast who are currently in the bottom half of the table in the league.

A state with no Income tax

Messi To Inter Miami is definitely a good business deal but it is also a smart move because in Florida, there's no income tax. Messi's first goal is to clear US immigration with a Spanish Tax fraud conviction on his resume.

For athletes who get paid a lot, Florida is a great place to be. Florida doesn't have a state individual income tax. That is not a nincome tax free existence, it's just that playing for a team in Florida helps the athletes cut the cost of the bill. It's clear that Messi doesn't have to worry about the state income taxes if he's just living in Florida.

Messi is set to earn $130 million this year, making him world's second highest paid athlete after Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Forbes. The only difference is Messi's earnings would not depend on his performance on the field. More than half of his earnings is gonna come through endorsement deals.

Messi's record in the European soil

Messi said his goodbye to Europe after he played his last game for PSG. He gave us many memorable moments of his brilliance which would be forever embedded in our hearts. So here we take a look at his records and stats for Barcelona and PSG as they are the only clubs in Europe he ever played for.