Saudi Arabia ruthlessly strengthened its grip on world sport in a three-day salvo in which it took over golf and signed a Real Madrid legend GARSIDEK takes a look back at the week when sportswashing went berserk
The event is a huge investment by any host. The dividend comes from the association with big brand sponsors. The tournament extends not over one month in 2026 but three years starting now. The involvement of Apple in the Messi deal is central, pointing to a partnership that will see the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner driving content and earning a fortune.
Messi can also expect to feature heavily in the content resulting from the deal agreed between the MLS and Box To Box Films, the company that produces the Netflix rating winners Drive To Survive in F1 and golf’s Full Swing. The value of Messi was demonstrated in the hours after news broke of his intention to join Inter Miami. On the morning of the announcement, the club’s Instagram account had 900,000 followers. Within 24 hours it had grown to 5.
Messi’s loss to Saudi Arabia was a soft rather than hard power blow. The Saudis did not need Messi’s revenue-building capacity but the influence of a social media engine, twinned with the peerless, had the potential to persuade observers that Saudi Arabia was as straightforward and desirable a destination as the Cote d’Azur. Messi would have been front and centre of any bid to follow the United States in hosting the World Cup in 2030.
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