Lionel Messi signing for Inter Miami is a very big brand deal

A World Cup winner and one of the greatest soccer players to ever live is reportedly going to sign his next contract to play at Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami.

The Athletic reports that Lionel Messi is set to sign with Miami over Barcelona, and move to the Saudi league. Obviously this is a massive deal, and a huge coup for MLS. But one of the more interesting aspects of the deal, so far, is just how collaborative the offer to Messi has been between Inter Miami, MLS, the league’s streaming partner Apple, and its major sponsor Adidas.

Messi is a long-time Adidas partner and signed a lifetime contract with the brand in 2017. According to reports, the new deal includes a profit-sharing agreement that would involve Messi receiving a cut of any increase in Adidas’ profits resulting from his involvement in MLS.

Messi’s offer also reportedly includes a revenue-sharing deal with Apple, which signed a 10-year, $2.5 billion streaming broadcast agreement with MLS earlier this year. And it would “likely include” the option to purchase a percentage of an MLS team upon the end of Messi’s time playing in the league. This isn’t the first time the league has used that latter carrot, landing David Beckham with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 with the chance to buy an MLS franchise for a discounted price of $25 million. He launched Inter Miami in 2014.

Messi’s other major U.S.-based brand partners like Pepsi and Gatorade must be sweating with anticipation because the timing for this deal couldn’t be better. The Copa America set to be held in the United States in 2024, and the 2026 World Cup will be cohosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.