Napkin Sells For $1M, Here's How Lionel Messi Was Involved
Soccer superstar Lionel Messi is one of the most well-known sports figures around the world and can have an influence on the growth of soccer teams, soccer leagues and companies broadcasting the games.
A key piece of Messi memorabilia recently sold for almost $1 million. Here's the story.
What Happened: Years before he made his debut in Major League Soccer for Inter Miami, Messi was a teenager looking to sign with Barcelona, one of the world's top soccer teams.
The napkin that helped secure the deal is now the most valuable napkin in the world after selling for $964,450 at auction, as reported by Cllct. Although the napkin doesn't contain Messi's signature, which makes the high sale price potentially surprising.
"The napkin altered the course of sports history forever in December 2000, when haphazard scribbles paved the way for Lionel Messi to sign with FC Barcelona, where he became arguably the greatest player in the history of soccer," Cllct's Will Stern wrote.
A 13-year-old at the time, Messi was hoping to land a deal with Barcelona with his father Jorge negotiating with the team. When the team seemed to not want to commit, Messi's father threatened to take Messi back to Argentina to explore options to play elsewhere.
Not wanting to lose out on landing the future soccer star who had shown success at a young age, Barcelona's director of football Carles Rexach drew up a contract on a napkin to show the commitment to landing Messi.
"In Barcelona, on 14 December 2000 and in the presence of Messrs Minguella and Horacio, Carles Rexach, FC Barcelona's sporting director, hereby agrees, under his responsibility and regardless of any dissenting opinions, to sign the player Lionel Messi, provided that we keep to the amounts agreed upon," the napkin contract reads.
The signatures on the napkin include Rexach, Argentine agent Horacio Gaggioli and advisor Josep Minguella.
"My lawyers looked at it. The napkin had everything: my name, his name, the date. It's notarized. It was a legal document," Rexach said previously.
Gaggioli took the napkin home and kept it in a bank vault for over 20 years. The napkin, which was sold by Bonham's saw a legal challenge over ownership prior to the sale, which was resolved ahead of the auction.
"Yes, it's a paper napkin, but it's the famous napkin that was at the inception of Lionel Messi's career. It changed the life of Messi, the future of FC Barcelona and was instrumental in giving some of the most glorious moments of football to billions of fans around the globe," Bonham's Ian Ehling said, as shared by Cllct.
Related Link: Want To Invest In Lionel Messi’s MLS Success? There’s A New Way To Get A Stake In Inter Miami
Why It's Important: The napkin had a bid of $275,000 around 30 minutes before the auction was set to end. Last-minute bids pushed the final price to $964,450, which came in ahead of a pre-auction estimate of $630,000.
The record for a memorabilia item of Messi's is a set of six game-worn Argentina jerseys worn by Messi in the 2022 World Cup. The jersey lot sold for $7.8 million in December 2023 at a Sotheby's auction. The most expensive Messi sports card ever sold is a 2014 Panini Prizm World Cup Gold numbered out of 10 and graded PSA 10, which sold for $522,000 in April 2022.
While the napkin doesn't have Messi's signature on it, the memorabilia piece could be one of the most important in the soccer star's career and one of the most important pieces in soccer in the last several decades.
Messi played 519 games for Barcelona, scoring 474 goals across 17 seasons. Messi would go on to play for Paris Saint Germain in France and currently plays for Inter Miami in the U.S.
The influence of Messi stretches far and wide today, with Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) enjoying a huge boost to AppleTV+ subscribers for its MLS packages after the soccer star signed with the league.
Adidas (OTC:ADDYY) inked Messi to a lifetime deal in 2017 luring him away from rival Nike. Adidas helped bring Messi to the MLS, where it is partnered with the league since 1996.
Beer company Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD) is hoping for a boost from using Messi in branding and commercials to promote the Michelob Ultra brand. The beer will be an official partner of the upcoming Copa America 2024, which will feature Messi's Argentina.
Read Next: Lionel Messi To The Rescue: Could Soccer Superstar Help Beer Company Move Past Boycott And Backlash?
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