The Uncertain Future of Lionel Messi 🇪🇸🇸🇦🇺🇸
Plus FIFA threatens to block Women's World Cup in Europe and Nike is making shoes from algae.
Welcome to Athletic Interest.
When Messi joined Paris Saint Germain, the club’s social media accounts grew by 20 million within the first week.
Shirt sales went through the roof and sponsorship offers began flooding in.
Considering his impact, it’s no wonder that speculation on Messi’s next move dominates the headlines again.
Because since this week, season 3 of ‘Leo in Paris’ is canceled.
His father/agent has already informed PSG that Messi will not be spending another year in Paris. PSG are also apparently quite keen to see Messi leave, with his decision to miss training for an unsanctioned trip to Saudi Arabia considered disrespectful to the club (and their Qatari owners).
There are three options.
🇪🇸 Back to Barca.
His heart is probably telling him to go back to Barcelona. The Catalan club have made no secret of their desire to re-sign Messi for next season. This will not be an easy task. Barcelona need to reduce their wage bill by at least €200 million before they can make any moves in the transfer market…let alone cover Messi’s high wages.
🇸🇦 Follow Cristiano Ronaldo to Saudi Arabia.
The big plus for Messi here would be the wages. Al-Hilal have reportedly tabled a one-season contract offer for around €400 million. That number is almost ridiculous, but it’s probably accurate. Saudi Arabia sees this as an opportunity to stage ‘one last battle’ between Messi and Ronaldo, a theatre that would set up and promote the country’s bid for the 2030 World Cup.
🇺🇸 Joining David Beckham at Inter Miami.
While this option would see Messi earn less salary, it is arguably the best move for his brand. A collaboration with David Beckham, and re-locating to Miami, would infuse Messi’s image with a bit of variety, and help him prepare for a future away from the pitch.
This isn’t the first time that Lionel Messi has been faced with an important decision about his future.
For this week’s video, we decided to take you back in time to explore the little-known fact that Messi was actually once a Nike athlete.
The breakdown is a remarkable lesson in the importance of signing the right athletes (and keeping them happy).
🍎 Sports Business Bites
🌍 FIFA is threatening to block coverage of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in the U.K. France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino claims that the bids from broadcasters in these nations to show the World Cup have been far below the level he would expect for an event of this size and has called the situation ‘a slap in the face’ for the players and wider women’s football.
The bids are reportedly in the region of $1-10 million which is far below the $100-200 million received for the men’s World Cup in Qatar.
This stance will have pleased supporters, who argue that the recent rise in popularity of Women’s football is deserving of far greater broadcasting fees. The 2019 edition of the Women’s World Cup had a cumulative audience of more than 1 billion. This year’s edition is expected to break that record.
🇸🇦 Newcastle have reportedly agreed to a £25 million (€28m) shirt sponsorship deal with a Middle-Eastern company.
This is a huge upgrade on their current deal with Fun88 which saw the club earn just £6.5m per season. There are several reasons for the dramatic change in fortune. Firstly, Newcastle look set to earn a Champions League place next season which will see the club get far greater exposure, something that brands are always willing to pay for. Secondly, the club’s Saudi Arabian ownership has raised its presence in the Middle East, a region that wants to deepen its connection to football.
Some will treat this news with suspicion and claim that Newcastle is using ties to the Saudi state to game the system. It is important to note, however, that the company in question, although unnamed, is not Saudi owned. Furthermore, Newcastle are reportedly confident that the deal will pass the Premier League’s ‘fair value’ test, a new rule introduced that requires clubs to justify any big money deal with potential links to the owners.
👟 The Boot Room
🏀 Kevin Durant signs a lifetime deal with Nike.
Kevin Durant has joined a very exclusive club, being just the third NBA player to sign a lifetime contract with Nike, the others being Lebron James and Michael Jordan.
Durant has been on team Nike since 2007 and has released 15 shoes with the company since then (number 16 is on the way soon.) The deal itself will see Durant and Nike continue to develop footwear and apparel as well as a community and philanthropic collaboration focused on grassroots basketball.
You can learn more about the deal (and similar stories) by checking out our Instagram
♻️ Here is a headline that caught our attention this week:
“In a former bread factory in Milan, NIKE injects algae and bio ingredients in shoes”
This may sound a little odd, but Nike is trying to take a different (and more sustainable) approach to shoe design and has been displaying these new techniques at the recent Milan Design Week.
Nike has teamed up with a group of footwear designers that make, break, and remake shoes from recycled, repurposed, and revisited materials around them.
The idea is to play around with materials and improvise to see what can be improved with current shoe designs. This includes using materials scavenged from random places and more eco-friendly materials such as algae ink.
Many of the shoes do not even use any glue but are instead held together using specially designed laces.
You can learn more about this new design process here.
👟 All this talk of innovative shoe design has reminded us of this incredible, but largely forgotten, piece of Puma history
Puma released the RS-Computer shoe in 1986 which included a computer chip that allowed runners to track distance, time, and calorie burn.
While the original was a revolution in shoe design, it quickly became outdated as technology took leaps forward in the following years.
The shoe was actually re-issued in 2018, this time with wireless technology.
⚖️ There has been a big development in the Adidas/Kanye West situation.
Adidas shareholders have filed a class action lawsuit in the United States against the sportswear company, claiming it knew about Kanye West’s problematic behaviour for years and took no measures to mitigate any potential losses.
The lawsuit alleges that Adidas knew about Ye’s behaviour back in 2018, and even claims that it was openly discussed by former chief executive Kasper Rorsted and other senior executives.
Despite this reported knowledge of Ye’s potentially damaging behaviour, Adidas is accused of “ignoring the risks of oversupply of Yeezy branded shoes in the event that the partnership were to suddenly end, and in particular, if demand for the shoes were to fall due to any controversy surrounding West.”
Obviously, this situation did end up happening. Adidas and Ye cut ties in October 2023, a decision that contributed to the company experiencing a more than $1 billion revenue slump.
Adidas for their part completely reject the allegations and promised to ‘vigorously defend themselves.’
One last thing, If you haven’t seen this video of the Napoli fans celebrating their team’s Serie A triumph then you are truly missing out!
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