Ambitious? Definitely. Messi is one of the most famous people on the planet. But that didn't stop Primo Entertainment from reaching out to his team with its idea of creating an interactive experience based on Messi's life.
"His circle is very tight," says Primo Entertainment cofounder David Rosenfeld. "It's really a family-run operation. But it was a little easier because there were people in common that we knew and had a good relationship with. The most difficult part was selling them on the vision and what we wanted to do. It was something that had never been done before, especially with someone of that magnitude. But we got it done and signed an exclusive deal."
The Messi Experience — a collaboration between Messi, Primo Entertainment, and Moment Factory — makes its global debut at the Hangar at Regatta Harbour in Coconut Grove on Thursday, April 25. It's expected to run through at least the end of June. Rosenfeld says the plan is to take the experience to 150 cities or so over the next five to seven years.
You can compete in different soccer challenges and keep track of your score on the Messi Experience app.
The Messi Experience photo
One of the nine rooms puts you in the front row for a Messi training session to get a small glimpse at how one becomes the best player in the world. Another room places you inside the locker room with the reigning Best FIFA Men's Player, who will give you a pre-game speech. You can test your soccer skills in different competitions and keep track of your scores using the web app. This app is also where you'll find the selfie you take with Messi at the end.
"It's a mix of real and AI," Rosenfeld says of the Messi selfie, specifying that it's a screen and not a hologram. We filmed him physically for this. He invites you to get closer to the camera, and it's as if he's holding the phone and taking the picture. You can put your arm around him."
Rosenfeld and the Primo Entertainment team are proud of their work with Beyond Van Gogh and other immersive experiences. Still, they wanted to take things to another level with the Messi Experience. In other words, they wanted to go beyond Beyond Van Gogh.
"Van Gogh and Monet were great for the time, but now people are looking for more. They want to be a part of it. They want something more interactive," Rosenfeld says. "I don't want to say the Messi Experience is bigger. I want to say it's more sophisticated. With Van Gogh and Monet, you walk in, and the whole exhibit is basically one room with four walls and projection, which is great. It serves its purpose. We wanted to take that, but one step further. How can we get people to actually interact with Messi? How do we get them to immerse themselves in his life?"
Messi was the first athlete to have a Cirque du Soleil show dedicated to his life, and according to Rosenfeld, he will be the first athlete to get the immersive experience treatment. Since the Messi Experience's announcement last October, have other athletes inquired about getting their own immersive experience? And is LeBron James one of them?
"The answer to your first question is yes, and I can't answer that second question," Rosenfeld says, laughing. "But obviously, being that this first one is with the biggest athlete in the world, that opens doors, and it opens the eyes of current and former athletes. We see ourselves as pioneers in this. We have had communications with other people, but Messi is our focus, and we don't want to lose sight of that."
The Messi Experience. Opens Thursday, April 25, at the Hangar at Regatta Harbour, 3385 Pan American Dr., Coconut Grove; themessiexperience.com. Tickets are $29.90 to $49.90 via feverup.com. Wednesday and Thursday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
