Messi’s Livestream Appearance in China Draws More Than 2.5 Million Viewers

This article was originally published by TechNode. It has been edited and re-posted here with permission.

On Wednesday afternoon, Lionel Messi captivated an audience of more than 2.5 million viewers during a 20-minute-long livestream on Taobao Live platform, owned by Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba.

The event was hosted by ecommerce influencer Li Xuanzhuo and He Wei, a football commentator from China’s state broadcaster. Li made it clear that any commercial elements that appear during Messi's presence in the live stream, including those that appear after Messi leaves, are unrelated to Messi.

The soccer star only stayed around ten minutes during the entire livestreaming session. The brief appearance saw Messi share his feelings about his visit to China, his football career, and future plans. Toward the end of the conversation, the hosts presented Messi with zongzi, sticky rice dumplings traditionally enjoyed during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Messi also extended his wishes to the watching fans for a “peaceful and healthy Dragon Boat Festival” in Mandarin Chinese, ahead of the three-day traditional holiday commencing on June 22.

Cover image via Taobao