Why should it be different from other places of work?
Lionel Messi’s Obscene Contract
- Thread starter Port Vale Devil
- Start date
You already did this story with Rooney.
I used to be reserved against Messi as the best ever as I preferred the genius of Ronaldo but he is probably the greatest footballer of all time. He is well within his rights to set his own terms for the contract he is going to be playing under. He has been at the club for years and has probably made Barcelona way more money through the years than he'll ever see personally so whatever he wants is what he wants for his last big contract. It's beyond childish to critique him personally for something like that. If Barca couldn't afford to sign him on they probably should have sold him, it's not that big of a deal really if you listen to the advice of your financial accountants. It's not theirs and certainly not Messi's fault. Some corporate big nuts decided to play gangster with Barca's money, now stop complaining about Messi.
Cool, nice patterns of shopping you seem to have, experiencing the same with different players in different countries.
statement 1) we have no money
statement 2) look where the money went
divide and conquer?
statement 2) look where the money went
divide and conquer?
It’s actually a copypasta that’s been around for years haha. The original was about some rapper called Flying Lotus and people started to use it about different celebrities
Who owns his image rights?
can't see us signing him on those terms. If we did, Kev, Raheem, Ederson etc etc would all be demanding comparable terms. Not gonna happen.
Someone replied that he owns his own image rights in the bit of that twitter thread posted where the tweeter says that FCB earn money everytime he is posted on their twitter and IG
I understand this was leaked to make Messi appear like a little greedy bastard, and this contract makes a very good case for people land to that conclusion but it also makes the board look like a bunch of idiots for forcing him to stay when they're in so much debt. They're just imploding and self sabotaging so at this point they do need a new board and probably to build a team without Messi in the near future.
Meh, irrelevant. They make up that money just by shirt sales alone.
Had to bring up that myth again, sorry
Had to bring up that myth again, sorry
Wonder what does he plan for his retirement.. buy Jamaica?
This is a classic example of cutting your nose off to spite your face cos the talk about how financially irresponsible they’ve been to appease one player is gonna override their attempt to influence people’s perceptions of Messi’s character in all this
How does his contract compare to the biggest American sport stars?
It's hardly out of the norm for sport. Most 'places of work' that deal in salaries and not a static wage - people will kinda know the ballpark of any given close colleague too. From my experience and knowledge. Football it's absolutely wild with secrecy and no wonder you get friction over it....
Nope, this is incorrect.
The €555m is the total - you are counting a lot of things twice.
So they paid Messi in wages around four and a quarter Ousmane Dembélé’s to keep him at the club.
Seems pretty reasonable when you look at it like that.
Seems pretty reasonable when you look at it like that.
But the Barca board that gave Messi the contract is already out. This is possible the new admin that are leaking it. They are killing two birds with one stone - making their predecessors look bad and laying the ground work for Messi’s exit, which I think is the sensible thing to do rather than giving him another contract like this one given their financial difficulties.
I can’t believe in 2021 people are still taking the I met ( insert celeb name here) at the supermarket where he behaved like a douche story at face value, and then angrily challenging its authenticity.
it's insane. It's got to be at least 10 years or so old at this point.Not really. Messi is their most iconic player. Completely different levels of adoration and importance when it comes to that football club. He's a player they pretty much name a whole era for the club on (their most successful one too)
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs Quarterback, recently signed a 10 year $500 million contract but I don't think he is guaranteed the full $500 million, it's probably heavily incentivised.
Messi's is more and over 4 years. Mental.
Tom Brady’s two year deal signed last March lands him $50 million guaranteed + $9 million in incentives
Lebron James’ Lakers contract signed in 2018 lands him over $153 million guaranteed across 4 years
Oh it's way more. Pat Mahomes (NFL) and Mike Trout (MLB) had to sign 10-12 year contracts to get $400-$500m dollars. The highest paid players in the NBA like Giannis Antentokounmpo earn around $45m dollar per year as well.
Also I think the NFL and NBA viewership is much smaller when compared to football. Not many people outside of America watch American sports much. Football is much more worldwide.
Thank you for sharing this story with us! It's surely a sign that Messi is coming to Manchester next season. If I am not mistaken, Roy Keane, Ravel Morrison, Marcus Rashford MBE and even Sir Alex Ferguson did exactly the same once or twice. That's some kind of an in-joke between them. I am sure that the income from Messi's shirts will cover Ronaldo's fee as well and they can try to outscore each other in the very same team!
While this is true it must be stated that American sports operate under a salary cap/luxury tax system, and the NBA has a max salary rule. Otherwise, LBJ would easily get $75-100m per year in salary and bonuses. He's probably the outlier though but the NBA players would make the most due to their global exposure. MLB players would still get big dollars but NFL superstars would make more though perhaps less in guaranteed dollars often paid in bonuses (they'd have higher salaries is my guess). Brady probably would double his salary without a salary cap which is designed to restrict player salaries (spare me to save the small market club bullshit - NFL clubs are getting like $200M from TV alone).
In terms of worldwide profile and influence, it only makes sense that Messi would be paid way more than Mahomes. He’s arguably the greatest ever player in the by far the world’s biggest sport.
Mahomes has been a relevant figure for about 3 years and won his first major title a year ago. It’s like Messi getting that contract in 2009.
Had the pleasure of meeting Messi at a charity do once. He was surprisingly down to earth, and VERY funny.
Things you can buy for that 619 euros extra...
But football tend to include endorsements in their contracts as image rights - Mahomes and Trout are not the biggest names in American sports, that's obviously LeBron, and his annual income has usually been reported at $100m. But the stuff that generally reports that(forbes), doesn't have Messi on $160m either, which is what this suggests.
But in general, Ronaldo and Messi have for the most part met Jordan and Woods levels of marketability - so why not be on their levels of income?
Should also be noted that last year - Ronaldo, not Messi, was reported as the first football billionaire.... so you can bet his income is very much in line.
Where in the leak does it say these figures are after taxes amounts?
I'd rather not have my club bankrupted
I'm sorry, he was not supposed to accept the shitton of money because of what exactly? How is he to blame here at all? Blame Barcelona for being useless at figuring out what a proper amount should have been. And yes, Messi is well within his rights to sue for the club leaking his personal information.
Surely comments like these are less than constructive.
Again whilst I agree, how is this Messi fault if the club are willing to pay it?
And then on top waste so much money post neymar sale?
Because it's a negotiation not a ransom
Both sides agreed it was worth it
He didn't have pictures of them and tell them 'I'll release them if you don't offer me money'
It wasn't black mail or a ransom
Tbf he can demand they name it Messi FC
If the club are stupid enough to give it, then that's their fault
If any of us were offered that kind of money from our employers we'd take it, no reason why he shouldn't. Whether he demanded it or the club offered it, either side could have said no.
I do think this is more personal between him and Bartomeu and now the rest of the board at the club. Looks to me like they are trying to make out like it is his fault the club us in such a dire financial mess to save their own asses.
I do think this is more personal between him and Bartomeu and now the rest of the board at the club. Looks to me like they are trying to make out like it is his fault the club us in such a dire financial mess to save their own asses.
Cool, now how much has Messi earned for Barcelona?
I'm always amused by the reactions to stories like these. Everyone hates billionaires and argues for wage equality but when an athlete in a sport that generates billions thanks to their contribution is making millions. All of a sudden it's obscene.
That isn't even touching the fact that if it wasn't for us fans, buying shirts, paying to go see the games live and paying Sky/BT/whoever for a subscription there wouldn't be this much money in the game to begin with to pay Messi this salary.
I'd much rather the money go to the people that generate it than back in the hands of billionaire owners to further line their pockets (I know Barcelona doesn't have an owner). Honestly, this salary probably doesn't even cover how much money Messi has made that club. That 168M a year is a fraction of the 840M that the club earned in revenue in the 2018/19 season.
I'm always amused by the reactions to stories like these. Everyone hates billionaires and argues for wage equality but when an athlete in a sport that generates billions thanks to their contribution is making millions. All of a sudden it's obscene.
That isn't even touching the fact that if it wasn't for us fans, buying shirts, paying to go see the games live and paying Sky/BT/whoever for a subscription there wouldn't be this much money in the game to begin with to pay Messi this salary.
I'd much rather the money go to the people that generate it than back in the hands of billionaire owners to further line their pockets (I know Barcelona doesn't have an owner). Honestly, this salary probably doesn't even cover how much money Messi has made that club. That 168M a year is a fraction of the 840M that the club earned in revenue in the 2018/19 season.
He had a year left on his deal when he signed this. Barcelona didn't just offer him this much because they collectively lost their minds, it's what he was asking for
It serves Barcelona right. feck em.
Who owns Barcelona? You’d think they’d be looking to sue the board for negligence / not operating in their best interests.
The numbers are obscene but if the club are stupid enough to offer it, then Messi should take it.
When you’ve won what he has, titles like “best paid athlete” will carry huge weight in adding to his ego and being seen as edging out Ronaldo, Lebron James, Mahomes etc.
Third parties would think Messi should bail the club out, but it’s not his fault the club have seriously fecked up.
Who owns Barcelona? You’d think they’d be looking to sue the board for negligence / not operating in their best interests.
The numbers are obscene but if the club are stupid enough to offer it, then Messi should take it.
When you’ve won what he has, titles like “best paid athlete” will carry huge weight in adding to his ego and being seen as edging out Ronaldo, Lebron James, Mahomes etc.
Third parties would think Messi should bail the club out, but it’s not his fault the club have seriously fecked up.