Lionel Messi Theme Park Reportedly Set for 2019 Opening in China

Lionel Messi is set to have a theme park built in his honour in Nanjing, China, which is slated to open in 2019. 

Per Scott Roxborough and Patrick Brzeski of the Hollywood Reporter, the park—dubbed the Messi Experience Park—will be developed by the Barcelona forward's management team in partnership with Phoenix Group, a Chinese broadcaster, and Spanish media conglomerate Group Mediapro.

Bleacher Report Football imagined what the park might look like:

The park is said to offer "the most cutting-edge technology, enabling visitors to immerse themselves in all things Messi by combining the latest-generation attractions with the very best advances in content and multimedia attractions."

Mediapro has experience in running sports theme parks and exhibitions, and it operates the Futbol Club Barcelona Museum.

The park is planned to consist of 20 attractions over a combined indoor and outdoor area of 630,000 square feet.

The theme park industry is a rapidly expanding market in China, which could become the world leader in the sector by reaching a revenue of $12 billion in three years' time, which would put the country ahead of the United States and Japan, per World Travel Market and Euromonitor (h/t Roxborough and Brzeski).