Why Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi deal isn’t done yet; MLS, Apple pushing for

Lionel Messi’s announcement on Wednesday that he intends to come to Major League Soccer to play for Inter Miami was one of the most important moments in the history of MLS and American soccer.

It was also one for which the league was not prepared.

Multiple league and team sources confirmed that MLS and commissioner Don Garber were not ready for any public announcement about Messi coming to MLS, as first reported by Fox Sports. The league indicated as much in their own public statement, in which they wrote they were “pleased” that Messi had stated his intent to join Inter but, “work remains to finalize a formal agreement.”

One week later, that final agreement is still a work in progress.

No contract between Messi and MLS has been signed, or even finalized, and the lack of an agreement has had a ripple effect on how the league and Inter Miami promote Messi’s arrival. It has also impacted the timeline of multiple deals being negotiated in tandem with Messi’s contract, from a new coach to the players set to join Messi in the summer transfer window.

Part of the reason for that is the complicated nature of the deal.

The proposed contract includes the option to purchase an equity stake in Inter Miami, and part of the deal also necessitates discussions with Apple regarding revenue share on new subscriptions for the MLS Season Pass service. A source briefed on the current negotiations said the Apple deal will be based on revenue driven by new international subscribers. There is also the structure of the compensation itself, the tax implications of how the contract is drawn up, as well as things like marketing and image rights. Those negotiations go down to granular levels, like which entities own rights to Messi’s name and the No. 10 for use on different products, for example.

Due to MLS’s single-entity structure, players sign contracts with the league, not individual teams. As such, Garber has been keeping other team owners abreast of the negotiations with Messi.

The summer transfer window opens in MLS on July 5. After that point, Messi (and new signings across the league) can be added to rosters and eligible for selection in official competitions. Messi is currently in China with the Argentina national team, but it has been reported that he is expected to depart before the team goes to Indonesia on June 19th in order to go on vacation. When he joins Inter Miami is very much still a part of negotiations.

Sources say there are discussions with the league about Messi taking part in the MLS All-Star Game in some way.

The Athletic reported Messi’s potential debut will be on July 21. But sources close to the league and D.C. United, who are hosting the event on July 19 at their home stadium, Audi Field, said the hope is that Messi might play a part in those festivities.

One source close to the league’s broadcast operations at Apple said that the tech giant…