A drone show accompanied Lionel Messi’s farewell tribute on October 6 at the Monumental in Buenos Aires. The sequence depicted references to the Argentina national team, his No. 10 jersey and the World Cup. However, discussion of the tribute ended up focusing on two details: a sponsor placed at the beginning and a figure of the soccer player that seemed to strike the ball with his right leg.
The specialist magazine AV Interactive described a show lasting about seven minutes. Videos shared by outlets such as ABC News and Telemundo offer a look at part of the production. The opening with the Sancor Seguros logo, an AFA sponsor, was booed and drew criticism for the place advertising occupied in a sports farewell.
The order of the images also tells a story
A drone show is programmed as a sequence. It takes more than putting together a portrait, a crest and a trophy: the order determines what appears first and how much time each element gets. At a tribute to a player, opening with a commercial brand can shift the emotional focus toward sponsorship, even when the images planned for the celebration appear afterward.
The other detail noticed by fans was the kicking motion. Messi is left-footed, so a depiction that suggests a right-footed shot stands out in a tribute built around his soccer identity. This is a criticism of the visual depiction, not a change to what happened during the match.
The reported cost is not a verified invoice
AV Interactive cites an estimate of around $100,000 and references the operator Iluxman and provider Lumasky Drone. That figure comes from press reports: evovo does not have a contract or invoice that would make it possible to verify the show’s final cost.
The distinction prevents a figure repeated on social media from being treated as an officially audited cost. For a production of this kind, contracting, programming, permits and operations may be part of separate budgets. Without event documents, it is not appropriate to reconstruct how much was paid for each component.
A tribute worth seeing in full
The program brought together symbols from Messi’s career and Argentine celebrations, including the Obelisk. Watching only the advertising opening explains part of the reaction, but leaves out the rest of the sequence. At the same time, the fact that more moving images follow does not erase the decision to open with a brand.
For readers who follow soccer from Mexico, the episode shows how a farewell also becomes a spectacle product. The coverage distinguishes the October 6 event, the available videos and the financial estimates. The cover photo is from an earlier Argentina match; it is not presented as an image of the drone show.
