The ‘fancy financing’ used to draw Lionel Messi to Miami over Saudi’s $1.5B offer

In a shocking score for Major League Soccer, superstar Lionel Messi reportedly turned down $1.5 billion from Saudi Arabia’s oil coffers to play for Inter Miami, the struggling MLS team co-owned by David Beckham. Messi’s deal may be less lucrative on paper than what the Saudis offered but comes with plenty of perks.

Though the deal is not yet finalized, MLS promoted the arrival of the GOAT and reigning World Cup champion Wednesday.

“It looked like, at least initially, like there’s no way that MLS would be able to have the sort of money needed to pry away a player like Messi for the sort of money that the Saudis had already shown they were willing to pull up for [Cristiano] Ronaldo,” said Victor Matheson, a sports economist and professor at the College of the Holy Cross.

But Matheson said MLS engaged in some “fancy financing” to draw in Messi, just as they had done with Beckham more than 15 years earlier. Messi’s deal reportedly includes team ownership stake when he’s done playing, relaxed salary rules and competitive commercial partnerships with Apple and Adidas.

Apple has exclusive rights to air MLS games for years to come in a 10-year, $2.5 billion deal. And now, it appears that Messi could get a chunk of revenue sharing from the tech giant, in addition to Apple TV+ airing a 4-part documentary series about the superstar.

“What’s really interesting is the only other soccer player that we can actually think of who has been linked to a deal like this is no other than David Beckham,” Matheson said.

“We see a case here where money doesn’t necessarily buy everything,” Matheson said. “We’re looking at that full package with Messi saying, ‘Do I need to associate with the Saudis in order to get what’s going to be the best deal for me?’”

The answer, evidently, is no. Matheson said Messi risked tarnishing his brand by going to Saudi Arabia.

“He is, without question, one of the greatest players ever to play the game,” Matheson said. “And I think he thought…’It could tarnish my long-term earning capacity. I’m only going to be playing for a few more years as an actual player, but I could be a brand ambassador for decades. Last thing I want to do is tarnish that decades of brand ambassadorship by taking a job at the end of my career at a place that clearly has troubling associations.’”

It’s an association that professional golf has decided to risk, with an LIV-PGA merger that is being challenged by U.S. politicians.

Watch the full interview with Victor Matheson in the video above.