When the news broke that Lionel Messi will be joining Major League Soccer side, Inter Miami, the first thing that came to my mind was Genesis League Goals. It will be strange to see the greatest footballer of all time play in a league that they call football "soccer" but it does smell like an opportunity for Genesis League Soccer investors.
Genesis League Goals is a subsidiary of the Genesis League Sports project that seeks to bring a football-themed game to Hive and the crypto universe as a whole. As you might recall, Genesis League Goals started off with a bang with the governance token of the mother project, GLX approaching $1.
Today, things have changed with the price of the token trading a little below 1 cent in a frustrating turn of events. Despite this situation, there's still some level of optimism around the project and the news that Lionel Messi will be joining the MLS is definitely going to stoke the fire.
At this point, it is safe to say that Lionel Messi's fame has transcended football. He's not just an athlete, he's a brand of massive proportion that will almost certainly boost the image of any football league he plays in.
To give a perspective of how massive Messi is, his deal with Inter Miami involves a massive $150m per year salary coupled with shares in Adidas and Apple as only part of his compensation. At the end of this two year deal, he would most likely be the first professional athlete that becomes a billionaire while playing.
Messi's influence was so massive that the entire MLS franchise had to pitch in bits to bring him to the league. Make no mistakes, Messi is an impressive footballer but this deal that brought him into the MLS was more of a marketing move that will bring long term benefit to the league.
What about GLG?
Now I don't know how the Major League Soccer Players' Association functions but I assume that Messi will automatically be a member since he's going to be playing in the league. I also don't know about how the image rights work but I like to think that the agreement that Genesis League Sports project has with the MLSPA ensures that Messi's face will also be a face in the project.
As we already know, the cards in Genesis League Goals are made in the likeness of real life footballers in the MLS. So, with that in mind, is it safe to assume that Lionel Mess's likeness will also be a part of the game?
At the time of writing, there are only two ways to get your hands on GLG cards; either through the market or buying MLSPA packs in the game or in the secondary market.
There are quite a number of footballers in the MLS and I don't think they are all represented in GLG. However, I'm pretty sure the managers of the GLS project are licking their lips at the prospect of adding Lionel Messi to the game.
The image rights might be an issue considering how massive a brand Lionel Messi is. However, I reckon that all the cash he's been paid by the MLS and partners will smoothen it out to an extent.
In any case, Messi is considerably bigger than the MLSPA organisation, so he will not just be another name on the roster. It is quite likely that special privileges will be given to him, but it's not clear how it will go.
In any case, I'm pretty sure that the GLG project will be thinking about how to include Messi's likeness to the game but just like the MLSPA, I doubt he will just be another name on the roster. He's much too big to simply just be found in MLSPA packs.
My hunch is, just like the Waka Flocka Flakes card in Splinterlands, Messi is going to be a pricey promo card in Genesis League Goals that can only be gotten by deep pockets. For what it's worth, I think it's only fair considering just how massive a brand and player the Argentine is.
In any case, this is going to be a massive opportunity for Genesis League Goals players, investors and the project as a whole. The marketing and publicity that could come from this will push the game into the spotlight, bringing more eyes and cash into the system.
This kind of publicity will invariably have a net positive effect on the price of GLX token. However, it is important to note that the game's launch will still be a significant landmark, particularly with the introduction of a global superstar like Messi into the fray.
We could technically see Lionel Messi on Hive network very soon and that's enough reason to be excited. Who knows, he might take a liken to the game and randomly give us a shout out one day. Don't blame me, dreaming is free.