Behind the scenes of Messi's second trip to China: The company that invited him to China was only established in August and has paid half of Miami's appearance fee
Five months later, Messi is coming back to China to play.
On November 5 and 8, Miami International Club from Major League Soccer will play a friendly match with Qingdao Manatee and Chengdu Rongcheng at Qingdao Qingchundao Football Stadium and Chengdu Phoenix Mountain Stadium, respectively, and Messi will come to China to participate in club owner David Beckham, Messi will play in both games for no less than 45 minutes.
On June 15 this year, Messi and the Argentine national team played an international friendly match against the Australian team at the Beijing Workers' Stadium, and 60,000 or 70,000 fans gathered inside and outside the stadium, the vast majority of whom were wearing Argentina and Messi shirts. The organizer of the event, Hongqiao International Investment Co., Ltd., spent a month to make this competition, which was considered "unachievable" by the outside world, become a reality, allowing people to see the influence and commercial value of the two major IPs, the World Cup champion and Messi, and also made a lot of money - the net profit of the game was about 50 million yuan. (Related: Behind the scenes of Messi and Argentina's China tour)
When a model succeeds, it is destined to attract imitators. Can the current king and former "heartthrob" replicate the miracle of this summer, and can the organizer of this event, Shanghai Maiga Sports Development Co., Ltd., make another profit? The answer will be revealed in more than twenty days.
Four Chinese companies invited Messi to play in China
The ticket price of the friendly match between Argentina and Australia is divided into six levels: 580 yuan, 1380 yuan, 2800 yuan, 3200 yuan, 3800 yuan and 4800 yuan. That night, more than 50,000 fans came to the stadium, and there were still a large number of fans outside the stadium who could not buy tickets.
For the tournament, the tournament organizer, Hongqiao International Investment Co., Ltd., paid an appearance fee of about $7 million for the Argentine team, which attracted 24 sponsors. Counting the box office revenue, you can earn about 50 million yuan.
This competition not only proved Messi's attractiveness in China, but also created a new mode of hosting - invite the biggest players, and hold the most influential events. Subsequently, a number of domestic companies began to follow suit, focusing on Messi's club team, Miami Internacional from Major League Soccer (MLS).
Previously, when a Chinese company communicated with Miami International Club, it hoped that Messi's playing time should not be less than 70%, and issued the 33 million deposit certificate and company business license of a person in charge of the company to the other party. They wrote in the brand cooperation plan: "Messi has 500 million fans in the world, and 300 million fans in China. His return to China will attract the attention of 500 million people around the world. ”
▲Argentina's scene at the Gongti competition in June (photographed by Lazy Bear Sports)
A person familiar with the matter told Lazy Bear Sports that Miami International Club received a total of four invitations from the Chinese side. In addition to China, sports companies from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and South America have also sent invitations to Miami International, hoping that they can participate in friendly matches in their countries, and the Saudi side even played the gimmick of "Messi, Ronaldo reunion".
In the end, Maga Sports Development Co., Ltd. from China won. In addition to the two matches with Qingdao Manatee and Chengdu Rongcheng, there will also be a fan meeting event.
Both Qingdao Qingchundao Football Stadium and Phoenix Mountain Stadium are new professional football stadiums put into use this year. In the Chinese Super League, the two stadiums maintained good attendance. Not long ago, Chengdu hosted the World University Games. The arrival of Messi and Miami Internacional will make these two cities once again in the world's attention.
Maga Sports has partnered with Iniesta Agency
Tianyan inspection shows that Shanghai Maiga Sports Development Co., Ltd. was established on August 28, 2023. Apparently, the company was registered specifically for this competition. According to Lazy Bear Sports, another company that invited Miami International Club to play in China but was unsuccessful was also temporarily registered for the competition, which was established on August 3.
The registered capital of Maiga Sports is 10 million yuan, and the legal person is Xu Jing. According to an introduction to Xu Jing, he has been engaged in brand integrated marketing for 16 years, mainly responsible for sports marketing consulting, sports event marketing and operation services. He has participated in Barça China Tour, Real Madrid China Tour, AC Milan China Tour, Ronaldinho China Tour, Cristiano Ronaldo endorsement knife electric car, Messi King Glory and other projects.
In late September, Maga Sports signed with NSN, the agency of former Spain international Andres Iniesta, who coordinated the invitation to the Miami International club to play in China. As a player, Andres Iniesta had good personal relationships with Messi and David Beckham. This cooperation is the key reason why Maga Sports was able to successfully invite Miami International Club to play in China.
A person familiar with the matter told Lazy Bear Sports that the Miami club spends more than $5 million playing a game. As for whether the organizer can recover the cost, the person said that there are difficulties, but the first time the new company holds such an international competition, it must first establish the brand.
When Lazy Bear Sports spoke to a person in charge who has repeatedly organized commercial football matches in China, the other party believes that without Messi, the reasonable appearance fee of Miami International should be around $1.5 million, or even lower. "With Messi, you can drive up to $3.5 million. Including the appearance fee, the operating cost of a match is about 40 million yuan. ”
However, the person said that this is only the price he estimated according to market conditions, and now this model of inviting big-name superstars to compete in China may not be completely in accordance with market conditions.
▲On August 26, 2023 MLS regular season, New York Red Bull VS Miami International, Messi celebrates the goal
According to the operation mode of general commercial competition, after signing a contract with Miami Club, the event company pays half of the appearance fee. Before the team arrives in China, it pays the other half of the playing fee. After the signing of the contract between the two parties, the event company will start to handle the entry procedures for team personnel and sign contracts with the participating clubs in China. The relevant approval process, the determination of ticket sales platforms, sponsors, broadcast platforms, etc. are also carried out at the same time. All expenses of participating teams in China are the responsibility of the competition company.
According to Lazy Bear Sports, including the players, Miami International Club has a total of fifty or sixty people coming to China, including David Beckham. As a player, David Beckham twice played with Real Madrid on his China tour. In 2013, he was hired as the image ambassador of the Chinese Super League to participate in promotional activities in China. This time I came to China, and business activities were indispensable.
According to relevant sources, Messi and his team learned on October 8 that they would come to China to play again. "He thought the venue in November would be Australia, and he would only come to China in January and February next year."
On October 13 and 18, Messi prepared for the World Cup qualifiers in Paraguay and Peru with the Argentine national team, and went to Paris on October 30 to participate in the Golden Ball Awards. After the award ceremony, he will focus on his trip to Asia.
How the opponents of the game are decided
According to Lazy Bear Sports, domestic events and sports companies basically threw olive branches to Miami International Club in July and August this year. At that time, there were two plans, one was to come to China in November to compete, and the other was to come in January and February next year. Since Miami Internacional was not yet sure whether to play in the MLS playoffs, the November friendly game was never finalized.
Miami Internacional lost 1–0 at home to FC Cincinnati on October 8, seven points behind D.C. United, ranked ninth in the East. With two rounds left in the league, it was determined that the playoffs would not be made. In this way, their trip to Asia in November will no longer have any obstacles.
According to the previous plan, Miami International Club will first play a friendly match in Japan on November 4, arrive in Chengdu on November 5, and play with Rongcheng on November 8, and is ready for official announcement.
However, just before the official announcement, the trip to Japan changed, and the competition could not go as planned. The Miami International Club is going to play two games in Asia, and if they only play one game in China, they can't accept it. After coordination among all parties, the organizers took three or four days to finalize another competition city and opponent, Qingdao Manatee.
When choosing a friendly opponent for Miami International, Maga Sports has previously made a number of plans, including domestic giants Shanghai Shenhua and Beijing Guoan.
However, a subway is being built around Shanghai Stadium, home of Shanghai Shenhua, and the stadium can only guarantee half of the attendance, which cannot meet the needs of the event company and fans, and the plan is abandoned. It is a very tempting plan to let Messi return to work after half a year and play against the Beijing Guoan team, and the Beijing Guoan club has also expressed its willingness to participate in the competition. However, due to limited conditions for hosting the competition in Beijing in early November, the plan could not be implemented.
▲Chengdu Phoenix Mountain Stadium, fans show TIFO "Target Asia"
On November 4, Qingdao Manatee and Chengdu Rongcheng will welcome the last Chinese Super League match of the season. After the end of the Chinese Super League, the two teams suspended their vacation mode and continued to prepare for a friendly match against Miami Internacional. As participants, they will also receive an appearance fee.
In addition to participating in the competition, Miami International Club will also participate in some business activities in China. Next, the organizer will launch a series of investment promotion activities, ticket prices and sales plans will be announced one after another.
For the organizers, time will be the biggest enemy of hosting these two competitions, especially in terms of event promotion and investment promotion. Chengdu Rongcheng's opponent was determined at the beginning of the month, and Qingdao Manatee only got it this week, less than a month before the start of the competition. In the past, this kind of commercial competition was finalized at least half a year in advance, but now it only took one or two months from the warm-up match of the Argentine national team in Beijing in June this year to the current Miami International Club to play friendly matches in China.
It is undeniable that Messi has a huge influence in China and around the world, and he and the Argentine national team wrote a legend at the Beijing Workers' Stadium this summer, can such a "myth" be repeated in him and Internacional Miami? This is what people are concerned about, and there is no answer for the time being.
Relevant people familiar with the matter told Lazy Bear Sports that after this model became popular, Chinese companies have taken the initiative to contact Riyadh Victory Club. In the near future, "Ronaldo to China to play friendly matches" may also jump away from paper and land on the court.
Disclaimer: This article is original by Lazy Bear Sports and may not be reproduced without authorization.