The Messi Effect Continues to Grow, Sets Super Record in MLS

All the data surrounding the MLS tournament has proven Messi enormous impact on American soccer.

Lionel Messi continues to be the main attraction for fans attending Major League Soccer (MLS) matches. And naturally, these are the matches of the club where the Argentine superstar plays – Inter Miami.mé

Compared to the same period last year, this year’s league data shows a nearly 30% growth in fan attendance at Inter Miami’s home games. This is also reflected in the average presence of fans throughout the MLS, from 21,730 to 23,246, a 7% increase. These are considered records that only Messi could achieve in American soccer.

Messi was officially announced to have joined the American club in June 2023, but he didn’t debut until a month later, on July 21, in a 2-1 victory against Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup. He started on the bench but came on in the second half and scored a stunning goal. In MLS, Messi’s first match was in August, also scoring in a 2-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls.

“Signing one of the top three greatest players of all time requires a significant investment and creativity to convince him of the project. Inter Miami was bold, securing the deal and still has the opportunity to grow globally, attracting revenue from television, tickets, licenses, sponsorships, and other businesses,” said Fábio Wolff, co-founder of Wolff Sports, a sports marketing company.

Inter Miami’s opponents have also benefited from the Argentine player’s presence. 25 out of 29 clubs participating in MLS have recorded an increase in average audience numbers, and 11 of Inter Miami’s away matches had more than 50,000 spectators, a record until then.

Another notable data point about the “Messi Effect” was revealed by a Forbes study in February this year, when Inter Miami became the second most valuable club in MLS, valued at $1.03 billion, a 72% increase from the previous year.

According to Forbes, the entire network of clubs considered average also experienced a commercial boost thanks to Messi’s presence, raising their estimated value to $658 million, a 14% increase from the previous year.

“High demand and the scarcity of tickets to see Messi in his first year in MLS have ensured that ticket sales success will be repeated in 2024. The superstar status of the world’s best soccer player attracts audiences beyond just soccer fans,” argued Ivan Martinho, a sports marketing professor at ESPM.

Messi also achieved other milestones in his first year at Inter Miami. One of the most prominent milestones was the sale of MLS broadcast rights to Apple TV for $2.5 billion, with a $250 million annual payment throughout the ten-year contract. This value is nearly three times the previous amount, around $100 million.

Additionally, Inter Miami’s matches in the first season attracted an average of 1 million viewers after the 2022 World Cup champion joined, a record for MLS.

Other impacts of Messi’s arrival in the US are also evident in jersey sales, as in September 2023, Messi became the player with the best-selling jersey in the country. A month later, in October, the New York Times reported that Adidas received nearly 500,000 orders from stores and suppliers for Messi’s Inter Miami jersey in the first days after the transfer was announced. According to local reports at the time, sales generated $100 million.

Two months after Messi joined Inter Miami, the club’s Instagram followers skyrocketed from 1 million to 13 million: currently, the club has over 17 million followers, making it the fourth most-followed sports club in the US on this social network, only behind three NBA basketball teams: the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, and Cleveland Cavaliers.