How Messi and Adidas Are Partnering With Sony on a New Animated Series

by · WWD
Lionel Messi's Soccer Cleats Through the YearsGetty Images

Adidas will develop a kids’ footwear, apparel and sports accessories line for athletic and everyday wear as part of a new licensing partnership with Sony Pictures Consumer Products and Sony Music vision.

The partnership is connected to the anticipated animated television series “Messi and the Giants” from Sony Pictures Television Kids and Sony Music Vision. The series, inspired by Adidas soccer legend Lionel Messi, brings together sports, adventure, and fantasy storytelling for kids and families around the world. It is a kids’ animate sports-fantasy series about Leo, a 12-year-old, who becomes trapped in an alternate reality ruled by giants and he must compete in high-stakes, soccer-like battles in order to get home.

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The show is slated to launch globally on Disney+ and on Disney Channel in the U.S. in summer 2027. Soccer-star Messi is one of its co-executive producers. His now deceased father, Jorge Messi, who also served as his sports agent, was the other co-executive producer for the series.

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A line of consumer products will be available ahead of the series launch, according to Sony. The Messi and the Giants product line includes kids’ footwear and fashion, according to Sony. “The entertainment firm also “The program is expected to include the first Adidas kids on-screen shoe in history,” the entertainment firms said on Monday.

Other consumer products include toys from Hasbro, books from Penguin Random House, and apparel, accessories, and home products from Centric Brands, among other items. Products from the Messi and the Giants consumer products program will begin rolling out in summer 2027, with additional launches planned for fall ’27, Sony said.

Messi this summer became the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer in the history of the tournament. He received that distinction after scoring his 17th World Cup goal in the Argentina vs. Austria match wearings the Adidas F50 Messi Elite El Último Tango, a signature boot that combines the look of Messi’s footwear from his 2006 World Cup debut with today’s technology. Adidas honored Messi this summer, 20 years after making his FIFA World Cup debut in 2006, following his sixth and final World Cup appearance. Messi signed a lifetime deal with Adidas in 2017, received his own Samba sneaker in 2024.