Eagle-eyed observers will have noted MLS superstar Lionel Messi featured in a fleeting moment at the launch of Apple's newest iPhone.
The Inter Miami talisman's star power is among the most sizeable in sport and it appears this is not lost on the Silicon Valley tech giants. At the garland event to unveil the 15th edition in its line of smartphones, the legendary winger's name popped up as the device's features were showcased.
The company was demonstrating how sports scores can now be sent to a user's notifications on the iPhone, using the Dynamic Island feature. This feature was installed on the previous iPhone edition but it has been retained for the latest one, as the slide showed.
As an example, presentation showed how this would have played out during a hypothetical clash between Inter Miami and Atlanta United. The example used made up events to demonstrate the capabilities of the feature as a push notification was sent to the device showing Messi to have scored after just eight minutes.
Of course, the two teams met back in July during Vice City's successful Leagues Cup run as Messi played his second game for his new team. In that instance, the former Barcelona hero scored the second strike of the night en route to a comprehensive 4-0 victory.
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That knockout game was broadcast on Apple TV's own MLS Season Pass, as part of the tech firm's ten year deal with the US league which began this year. This $2.5billion (£2billion) deal means that the streaming service shows games in MLS, along with Leagues cup matches.
The world-famous company also have an agreement with Messi in regards to this streaming package, which formed part of his contract with MLS upon signing. Essentially, this sees the 37-year-old receive a share of any revenue made through sales of the Season Pass.
So, although the World Cup winner was on international duty with Argentina at the time, he had a small part to play in the launch of Apple's new flagship handset. It seems that the partnership between the superstar forward and the tech giants is blossoming into mutually beneficial enterprise as well.
Back in August, the firm's CEO Tim Cook explained that Messi's move to the US has helped Apple to beat their targets in terms of subscribers to the MLS Season Pass. He was reflecting on the promising figures at their quarterly earnings call for the three months ending on July 1.
He said: "We are excited about our MLS partnership, and we're thrilled to see Messi suiting up with Inter Miami. It's clearly in the early days, but we are beating our expectation in terms of subscribers. And the fact that Messi went to Inter Miami helped us out there a bit – and so we're very excited about it."
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