Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain debut against Stade de Reims became the most-watched football match in Spain ever.
Spanish free-to-air television channel Telecinco recorded about 6.7 million people who watched at least one minute of the match on the channel, they also secured an 18.6 per cent audience share through this.
Lionel Messi started on the bench on his debut for PSG in Ligue One, the Argentina international came on in the 66th minute as he replaced Neymar and PSG was leading 2-0.
Messi received an overwhelming response from both the home and away fans, who were chanting his name as he came on the pitch for his debut.
Messi’s debut was streamed across many platforms as esports commentator, Ibai Llanos streamed the match on his twitch channel which saw an average audience of 343,000 viewers with the viewership peaking at 5,00,000.
There was also news last week that Kosmos, the international sports investment firm bought the streaming rights of Ligue One in Spain, it is also been reported that they are looking to sublicense the rights of the league.
The arrival of Messi in Ligue One will continue to benefit like it did on the Argentina international’s debut, in terms of viewership, shirt sales and overall outreach of the league will be enhanced.
PSG top the Ligue One table with 12 points in four games, as they scored 12 goals and conceded five in those four games. PSG plays Clermont Foot in the next game of the league on 11th September.