Why Apple Is Paying Messi
Plus Nike develops special boots for female footballers and Inter Miami feel the 'Messi Effect.'
Welcome to Athletic Interest,
Goggles are generally useful for two things, swimming and cutting onions. Now apparently, there is a third use…watching sports.
The internet went wild earlier this week when Apple released some new VR goggles during its Worldwide Developers Conference. While most people were either shocked by the price ($3499) or convinced they were watching the latest trailer for Black Mirror, this announcement does promise some interesting developments for sports.
Just after Steve Tim Cook’s announcement, Disney revealed that they are developing integrations with Apple that will allow their entertainment and sports products to be watched on Apple’s VR goggles.
Disney CEO Bob Iger teased that fans will be able to watch five games at once and toggle effortlessly through the action.
Fans that decide to focus on one game will be treated with multiple camera angles, detailed on-screen stats, and exclusive pitch/court-side viewpoints.
While it is still early days for this technology, it promises sports broadcasters the opportunity to immerse their viewers far deeper into the action than ever before. This immersion should lead to greater engagement from fans, the holy grail for any sports broadcaster.
Broadcasting isn’t the only area that these goggles could impact, it could radically change how we exercise.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is working on integrating the Fitness+ app into the headset. Not only will this allow you to take classes with an instructor in virtual reality, but it’s also expected to link up with the data provided by your Apple watch. This should provide athletes with a far more immersive, and arguably entertaining, experience.
Despite the obvious excitement, it is important to stress that this is a first-generation product that is yet to be released onto the market. It is unclear exactly what we will get when it is released early next year, but if Apple can deliver on its promise of greater immersion, sports broadcasting, and personal fitness may never be the same again.
🐐 Making you wear weird goggles isn’t the only plan Apple has for sports, the company is also investing in Lionel Messi!
You have probably heard the news that Messi will be heading to the MLS and Inter Miami next season. This may have come as a shock, with most people expecting Messi to choose a return to Barcelona or a mega-money move to Al-Hilal.
As it turns out, Apple was busy behind the scenes sweetening the deal with Inter Miami to ensure that Messi chose the U.S. as his next destination.
According to reports, Messi will be entitled to a share of Apple’s revenues from selling subscriptions to its MLS streaming service. Furthermore, Adidas is also reportedly cutting Messi in on any sales boost experienced by his move to the MLS.
So, why is Apple willing to sacrifice its own revenue to ensure that Lionel Messi joins the MLS?
In this week’s video, we explain how Apple is trying to build a SportsOS,
👟 The Boot Room
⚽️ Women’s football has been facing a rather mysterious problem.
Several of its top players have been suffering serious ACL tears and knee injuries.
England captain Leah Williamson and star forward Beth Mead have both picked up ACL tears that will see them miss the upcoming World Cup, while Dutch star Vivianne Miedema and two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas have also suffered serious knee injuries over recent years.
In response, Nike has spent two years researching the women's game with the intention of creating a brand new boot design specifically for female players that should reduce the risk of these damaging injuries.
The end product of this research is the Nike Phantom Luna.
Nike realised that arch height in women’s feet tends to differ more than men, so they have included different ranges of arch support in this boot, from flat foot to high arch.
The Phantom Luna also looks to reduce irritation placed on the Achilles with high cuff heals that should reduce break-in time during fast-paced matches.
The biggest innovation comes from the new circular stud pattern, named the Cyclone 360, which will allow female players to move with more agility and precision while reducing strain on the body.
Nike plans for the Phantom Luna to be available for purchase ahead of the summer's World Cup, beginning July 20th.
📱 Social Media Madness
🚙 Napoli Ultras have given their club’s outgoing manager the weirdest leaving present in history!
A video has gone viral of Luciano Spalletti opening a gift box in front of a bunch of Napoli Ultras to reveal that they had given him a steering wheel and some old CDs.
This gift isn’t as weird as it first appears…
When Spalletti first arrived at Napoli in 2021 he struggled to win over fans with poor early results. In an attempt to intimidate the new manager into leaving, some ultras broke into his beloved Fiat Panda and stole his steering wheel and CDs.
At a game following the incident, they produced a large banner that read: 'We'll give it back to you, all you have to do is leave.'
True to their word, the Napoli ultras have returned Spalletti’s stuff.
With the outgoing coach having brought the club back to the top of Italian football, this probably isn’t the circumstances the ultras expected when they first made the threat.
📱 Luciano Spalletti wasn’t the only one to go viral this week, Inter Miami also had a good week on social media, thanks mainly to Messi.
The Argentine superstar’s decision to join Miami next season saw the MLS club gain more than 5 million followers in a matter of days. This comes after PSG lost around 2 million followers after Messi announced that he was moving on.
What makes this ‘Messi Effect’ even more spectacular is the fact that Inter Miami, a struggling MLS side, now has more followers than any team from the NLF, MLB, NHL, or MLS. Their closest rival in the social media league, New England Patriots, have just 4.9 million followers.
It isn’t just followers that Messi is giving to Inter Miami, ticket sales for his expected first match in August have started to sell like crazy, with prices increasing 1400% on the resale market.
👟 Football boots are big business. The likes of Nike, Adidas, and Puma spend hundreds of millions each year to make sure that the top stars are wearing their boots. So, which football boot was actually the most worn within the top-5 European leagues this season? Find the answer on our Instagram.