Messi's fashion brand business suffered began to change.

After Messi's personal fashion business suffered consecutive losses for three years, it began to change. On March 30th, Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi parted ways with the previously cooperated American fashion brand management company MGO Global and signed a new contract with a larger brand management company, Centric Brands. MGO Global sold the licensed management of Messi's fashion business under its umbrella at the cost of $2 million in cash and assuming the payment of the upcoming copyright fees that are due to be paid.

As one of the most popular athletes in the world, Messi signed a licensing agreement with the newly established MGO Global in 2018. The founder of the company, Maximiliano Ojeda, is an Argentine hotel and real estate developer and currently serves as the company's CEO; the other founder, Ginny Hilfiger, is the sister of the famous American fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger and also serves as the design director of the Messi Brand.

In 2016, after Maximiliano Ojeda met his fellow countryman Messi in New York, he successfully persuaded Messi to authorize Ginny Hilfiger to design a series of jackets and casual clothing for him, which were sold through MGO Global.

Just four weeks after Messi led the Argentine team to win the 2022 World Cup championship, MGO Global successfully raised $8.63 million in its first public offering in 2023.

According to the website sportbible.com, on the day when Messi previously announced his transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain Club, 150,000 Messi jerseys on the official website of Paris Saint-Germain Club were snapped up in just seven minutes. In this regard, MGO Global told investors in the prospectus, "This is enough to prove the influence of Messi's name in the fashion industry."

The problem is that MGO Global has not obtained any authorizations related to the sports category (including jerseys, sneakers, and any goods displaying Messi's signature), and the Messi Brand hoodie printed with Messi's tattoo is not as popular as the jersey. In 2023, the total sales of Messi Brand were only $1.69 million. Its publicly disclosed three-year data shows that the cumulative total sales are approximately $3.6 million.

In the three years up to 2023, MGO Globa has paid more than $2 million in licensing fees to Messi, and the cost of producing and selling clothing is about $1.8 million. The company's net loss is as high as $11.4 million. This November, MGO Global still needs to pay Messi a copyright fee of $1.6 million, in addition to $1.3 million in corporate liabilities, and the cash on the books is less than $1 million.

Centric Brands was established in 1987, formerly known as Innovo Inc. In 2007, it merged with denim manufacturer Joe’s Jeans and was renamed Joe ‘s Jeans Inc. Later, it merged with Hudson Jeans. After selling Joe’s Jeans and acquiring the Robert Graham brand, the company was renamed Differential Brands. The name of Differential Brands has been extended until 2018, and after acquiring the North American licensing business of Global Brands Group for $1.2 billion in cash, the company was renamed Centric Brands again.

Currently, the company has authorizations for more than 100 iconic brands in different categories, including children's lines of brands such as Calvin Klein®, Tommy Hilfiger®, Nautica®, Spyder®, and Under Armour®; men's and women's lines of brands such as Joe’s Jeans®, Buffalo®, Hervé Léger®, and IZOD®; fashion accessory lines of brands such as Coach®, Kate Spade®, Michael Kors®, All Saints®, Frye®, Timberland®, Hunter®, and Jessica Simpson®; as well as fashion business lines of entertainment IP such as Disney®, Marvel®, Nickelodeon®, and Warner Brothers®. The company also owns and operates brands such as Zac Posen®, Hudson®, Robert Graham®, Avirex®, Fiorelli®, and Taste Beauty®, and jointly operates the joint venture brand Favorite Daughter with Sara and Erin Foster.

In contrast, Centric Brand will have more influence and stronger funds to promote Messi's licensed brands.