Lionel Messi's Paris Saint-Germain debut was the most-watched Ligue One fixture in the history of TV fixtures in France.
After signing on a free transfer following his shock departure from Barcelona, the six-time Ballon d'Or winner played his first game for his new employers in a 2-0 win over Reims.
Messi entered the fray in the 65th minute, replacing Neymar in a historic substitution and being applauded by all corners of the Stade Auguste Delaune.
With Messi not fit and available for previous fixtures following on from an extended break due to the Copa America triumph with Argentina, all eyes were on his PSG bow.
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In fact, according to L'Equipe, over 10.5 million viewers in France tuned in to get a glimpse of Messi and broke Ligue One viewing records as a result.
If that wasn't a big enough indicator of the 'Messi effect', TV ratings in Spain were also through the roof. Kosmos Holding, Gerard Pique's company, secured the rights to Ligue One and their first broadcast was the most-viewed French league fixture in Spanish history.
There were an average of 343,000 spectators and 2 million unique Spanish viewers on Ibai Llanos' Twitch channel, where it was aired for free, and 2.214.000 on average for TV channel Telecinco.
In total, the audience stood at 6,734.000 - huge numbers that highlight Messi's incredible global appeal.
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Fans from all over the world bought tickets to see Messi in the flesh, including people from Chile, South Korea and India.
In the United Kingdom, BT Sport is the home of French top-flight action and the channel must be thinking they've struck gold with Messi in town.
Immediately after the game on Sunday evening, opposition goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic decided to shoot his shot by asking Messi to pose for a picture with his son.
The 34-year-old happily obliged to give the young lad a quite insane souvenir.
Featured Image Credit: Image: PATopics: Lionel Messi, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, Ligue 1
