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Sports

Lionel Messi joins Ronaldo in billionaire football ranks after US deals | Football News

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By Rodrigo Orihuela and Dylan Sloan

 


When Lionel Messi was a teenager he received a life-changing offer to join FC Barcelona’s youth team. Sketched out informally on a napkin, the contract included an unconventional clause: a commitment to pay the young footballer’s growth hormone treatment.  

His local Argentine side, Newell’s Old Boys, had just taken a pass on the expense as too big a gamble on an unproven player. But for Barcelona, it might just be the best money ever spent: The therapy proved effective and Messi’s career later skyrocketed, catapulting him and the Spanish team to international glory. Off the pitch, he’s also just notched up another big milestone, becoming a rare sporting billionaire.  
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Messi, 38, has earned more than $700 million in salary and bonuses since 2007, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Adjusting for taxes, market performance and income from investments and sponsorships, his net worth has surpassed the $1 billion-mark, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That puts him alongside long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese striker who became the sport’s first billionaire after joining Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr FC in 2023, as among the world’s wealthiest athletes.

 
 


While Ronaldo’s flamboyant persona has long proven a magnet for advertisers from oil products to sportswear, Messi’s marketing machine in the early years of his career at times struggled to match the heights of his on-field talent. But more recently — under the guiding hand of father Jorge — his business career has flourished. A massive pay check from current team Inter Miami, purported TV revenue-sharing deals, real estate holdings and even a stake in an Argentine restaurant chain have all helped land him in the 10-figure club.

 

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It could easily have happened sooner. Many Messi-watchers were surprised when the player, fresh from leading Argentina to World Cup victory in 2022, turned down a huge contract worth $400 million annually to play in the Saudi Pro League. Instead, he opted to join Inter Miami, while Ronaldo signed his own Saudi contract during 2023, worth more than $200 million a year.

 

“Money was never a problem for me, nor an obstacle in anything,” Messi told Mundo Deportivo in an interview that year. “If it had been about money, I would have gone to Saudi Arabia or somewhere else.”  


Historically, athletes who’ve made $1 billion or more have largely done so off the back of investments. Roger Federer earned more than $130 million in prize money during his playing career — but a deal to buy a 3% stake in Swiss running shoe brand On in 2019 became the largest source of his wealth after its shares soared. 

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Michael Jordan, despite being one of the highest-paid NBA players of his time, earned less than $100 million in career wages, with a stake in the Charlotte Hornets and endorsement deals contributing the bulk of his wealth. However, a recent surge in top athletes’ salaries, especially in football, has enabled the sport’s biggest stars to make $1 billion or more in wages alone.

 


The Miami deal also came with innovative perks for Messi, including an unusual equity option that gives him the right to purchase a stake in the club, where retired England star David Beckham is already a shareholder. 

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While it’s unclear what stake — if any — Messi has taken in his US team since joining, Inter Miami’s fortunes have been on the rise. The club’s value increased more than a fifth in the year to February to about $1.45 billion, according to Sportico. It’s now the US’s most valuable soccer team, ranking 16th globally and ahead of such teams as Newcastle United.

 


Apple Deal 

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Messi’s US move also opened up other innovative ways of being paid. During initial contract talks, the US football league and Apple discussed a revenue-sharing agreement that would see Messi earn a share of sales from new subscriptions to Apple TV+’s MLS Season Pass streaming package, The Athletic reported. 

 

Jorge Mas, Inter Miami’s owner, said take-up for the streaming service doubled in the months after the player joined. Mas, in an interview earlier this year, signaled Messi’s total annual pay from the club comes to between $70 million and $80 million, taking into account equity rights and player compensation.  


Bloomberg was unable to independently verify the financial details of Messi’s agreement with Apple. Attempts to reach the Messi family via a press officer were unanswered.

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From a purely sporting point of view, the move to Inter was seen by some fans as a step down, following a well-trodden path by experienced stars to less-celebrated footballing nations ready to pay for brand-name talent. Before moving, Messi — considered by many the best player of all time — had spent two years at French powerhouse Paris Saint Germain, and prior to that led Barcelona to several Spanish and European titles. He’s also won more Ballon d’Or titles than any other player.

 


But even as he developed into star at the Catalan club in the 2000s, it took time before his pay really took off: when he signed a contract extension in 2009, Spanish media reported that he was earning about $12 million a year. As salaries have inflated, last season, ten players on the side were making more than that annually, according to data from analytics provider Capology. 

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Messi has spent more than half his life in Spain and still maintains strong roots in Barcelona, but is rarely interviewed by media outside Argentina. Widely acclaimed within his home country, especially after the 2022 victory, he struggled in the early years, partly due to his shyness and also because many fans drew tough comparisons with Diego Maradona.

 


It’s something he’s grappling with even today. In an interview with an Argentine streaming service earlier this year he described himself using a local term for a socially-awkward person, adding that he gets unsettled when daily plans change and watching TV at home alone is among his favorite pastimes.

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Off-field Business 


Messi has relied heavily on his father Jorge for much of his off-field dealings, turning to him as agent, business manager and adviser. Alfonso Nebot Armisen, a little-known Spanish banker, has run his private investment firm since 2009. 

 

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At times, though, his business has attracted the attention of Spanish tax authorities, along with peers including Ronaldo. A decade ago, he was found guilty along with Jorge of defrauding the Spanish government of about 4 million euros between 2007 and 2009 over income earned from image rights that went into shell companies. He was handed a prison sentence and fines, though ultimately avoided jail.

 


Since then, he’s been diversifying. In Dec. 2024, he listed a REIT on a small Spanish exchange, valued at $232 million. The company, Edificio Rostower Socimi, owns several hotels and other commercial real estate. 

 

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He’s also been expanding into consumer goods: in 2024, he released the Más+ by Messi sports drink in partnership with Mark Anthony International SRL, the beverage group behind Mike’s Hard Lemonade. He also joined Argentine restaurant chain El Club de la Milanesa, which specialises in the type of breaded steak that’s a staple in the Latin American nation and one of Messi’s favorite dishes, as an investor — in part to help with its international expansion. 

 

Like Ronaldo, and perhaps with an eye to his post-playing days, he’s also building a portfolio of football clubs, with the recent announcement that he was acquiring the fifth-division Spanish Cornella team, adding to his stake in Deportivo LSM, the Uruguayan side he co-owns with his friend and former teammate Luis Suárez. Messi’s family also founded and run a lower-division club called Los Leones in their native city of Rosario. 


There may be more to come as Messi starts to think about retirement, according to comments he made at a business forum in Miami last year.

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“Football has an expiry date,” he said. “Business is something I like, and I am learning about.”

 

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Pro reveals details of insane tattoo bet with caddie

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On Sunday, Lottie Woad enjoyed what is becoming a regular tradition in her pro career.

With a final-round 69 at the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati, Woad, who is 22, won her second LPGA event (and third event in total) since turning pro in the middle of last year. Woad’s victory was the latest highlight in her rapid climb up the food chain in the women’s game. It was also a moment of affirmation for one of her more … eclectic competitive rituals: a bag of gummy bears that has served as her good-luck charm.

As the story goes, the tradition started with Woad’s caddie, David Taylor, a veteran LPGA looper who evidently shares her sweet tooth.

“So, back in the UK, we’ve got kind of little supermarket called Marks & Spencer, and they do this sweet called Percy Pigs, and it just so happened that Singapore had one of these little small supermarkets, and I came across it one night when we were out for dinner,” Taylor said. “So, I took them and I put them in the bag, and I said, ‘These are some birdie sweets.’”

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Caddies are famously adept at discovering motivational tools for their players, and in Taylor’s case, the key to Woad’s heart was simple.

“Now, every player is driven by different things, some are financially driven, Lotte is in fact driven by sweets,” he said. “So, I put them in the bag, and I said, ‘Every birdie you make, we get one each.’ So it’s not she’s going to hit some mad sugar rush or anything.”

Woad is careful to point out that she’s not exactly housing gummy bears during the course of competition. The candies are a boost that helps to break up the monotony of life on the road.

“I don’t know, we’ve done it the last few events that we remembered,” Woad said with a grin. “Yeah, I think people think that we’re like stuffing our faces with sweets during the round, but like realistically we’re eating like four gummy bears.”

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But Woad’s moment in the sun at the Kroger Queen City Championship was dually rewarding, and not just for the sugar high of a pro victory. As Taylor explained in an interview with SiriusXM, he’d made his pro an unusual promise: The next time she won an event, she could choose the design for the next tattoo on her caddie’s body.

Woad’s victory in Cincy meant that she had earned that right, and as you might expect, there was only one option that made sense.

“Actually, about one hour ago, I got a text message from her, and she’s finally chosen what to get,” Taylor said with a laugh. “She’s chosen the piece, and it is, in fact, going to be a little gummy bear with a crown on it.”

A gummy bear with a crown — fitting for the first crowning of a new LPGA heavyweight player-caddie pairing … and one that just so happened to come in the Queen City.

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You can’t put it on kids

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Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned Ruturaj Gaikwad for attributing the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) early exit from IPL 2026 to a young and inexperienced team. He highlighted that the blame shouldn’t be put on kids and that the seniors need to own up.

CSK were eliminated from IPL 2026 after an 89-run loss against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on Thursday, May 21. The visitors were bowled out for 140 in pursuit of a 230-run target.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter opined that Gaikwad should have spoken about the underperforming seniors instead of the youngsters while reflecting on CSK‘s exit in the post-match interview.

“He said that’s a very young team, that they cannot show that much faith in youngsters, and that they don’t have enough experience. I am wondering why those who have experience aren’t being spoken about. The talk should have been about Sanju Samson, Rutu, Shivam Dube, and Dewald Brevis. The talk shouldn’t be about Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, or Urvil Patel. What they did was excellent,” Chopra said.

“The talk should actually be about the elders. Rutu, how was your season? Kids bring bravado and an attacking approach. They don’t bring consistency, and how will they bring consistency? They are kids. So whose responsibility was it? You said you would open and don’t want to let Mhatre open. You needed to score runs. I agree that anyone can have a bad season, but you need to own up. You can’t put it on kids that they didn’t do well,” he added.

Ruturaj Gaikwad aggregated 337 runs at an underwhelming strike rate of 123.44 in 14 innings in IPL 2026. Shivam Dube (270 runs at a strike rate of 158.82 in 12 innings) and Dewald Brevis (151 runs at a strike rate of 127.96 in eight innings) also weren’t at their best this season.


“The mistake was in the auction as well” – Aakash Chopra on CSK’s IPL 2026 exit

Dewald Brevis was one of the two overseas batters in CSK's IPL 2026 squad (Image via X/@IPL)Dewald Brevis was one of the two overseas batters in CSK's IPL 2026 squad (Image via X/@IPL)
Dewald Brevis was one of the two overseas batters in CSK’s IPL 2026 squad (Image via X/@IPL)

In the same video, Aakash Chopra reckoned it wasn’t the youngsters’ mistake, highlighting that CSK had also erred in the IPL 2026 auction.

“In that interview, it seemed like it was the kids’ mistake. It wasn’t the kids’ mistake. The mistake was in the auction as well. You had two overseas batters, and they weren’t even like-for-like. You played with three overseas many times,” he said.

While acknowledging that Gaikwad might not have had enough time to reflect on the loss before the post-match interview, the cricketer-turned-commentator opined that his comment was odd.

“Plenty of problems that can be talked about later, but I found that one comment odd. Putting your responsibility on someone else is not the nicest way of doing things. You might not have got enough time to think about it post-match, you reacted suddenly, and you don’t mean it perfectly, but it still felt slightly odd as the kids have done decently. It wasn’t about them at all,” Chopra observed.

However, Aakash Chopra concurred with Ruturaj Gaikwad that the Chennai Super Kings were hit hard by injuries in IPL 2026. While terming CSK the ‘Chotil Super Kings’ because of the number of injuries they have endured, he pointed out that even Sanju Samson got injured while keeping in their last league game.

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