The pull of brand Messi: shirts, social media and TV rights
The HinduReplica shirts bearing his name are flying off the shelves, followers are flocking by the millions to his new club's social media accounts and TV rights suddenly look a bargain: Lionel Messi's arrival in Paris has set the money train in motion. Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser al-Khelaifi bluntly told reporters on Wednesday that people would be "shocked" by the revenue the 34-year-old six-time Ballon d'Or football world player of the year would bring to the club he joined as a free agent the previous day. Amazon, which in June won the rights to broadcast 80 percent of the top French division's matches at a fraction of the original price after partner Mediapro pulled out, is certainly among the winners, said sports marketing expert Vincent Chaudel. " Chaudel, a co-founder of sports business think-tank Observatoire du Sport-Business, estimated Messi's arrival could boost PSG's value by 10-20 percent.