A year ago, Inter Miami was struggling to win and looking for an identity, then Lionel Messi arrived.
In June 2023, the club announced that it had signed legendary Argentine player Lionel Messi for the sum of US$20.4 million (CA$28 million) per year, obviously a record.
The arrival of Messi did not allow the team to qualify for the playoffs, it started too far, but its impact was immediate.
When we say immediate, we mean that he scored two goals in his first match and that he allowed the team to win a first trophy by winning the Leagues Cup, a new competition between MLS teams and the Liga MX of Mexico.
Dominant
In his debut with Miami, Messi amassed eight goals in twelve games in all competitions. He added six assists. Before his arrival, the team was 5-14-3 and going through an eleven-game winless drought. In the six regular season games he played, the team went 3-2-1.
Messi has hit his stride this season, however, as he leads MLS in goals (10) and assists (12) in just eight games, including seven starts. He even allowed himself a record night of a goal and five assists against the New York Red Bulls last week.
His presence also had an impact on recruitment. Spanish midfielders Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba arrived shortly after last season. Miami didn’t have to look for their phone number for long to contact them since they were teammates of Messi at FC Barcelona.
And this is not the last time that Miami went to Catalonia since the Uruguayan Luis Suarez, also a former Barça player, arrived to support his friend in attack. And we can say that it works quite well since he has ten goals and five assists in eleven games.
Financial impact
His presence also had a financial impact on David Beckham’s club. According to what the club’s chief commercial officer Xavier Aseni told Sportico last fall, the club intentionally signed agreements that were scheduled to expire at the end of 2023 in order to be able to sign new contracts that would extend over the two years that Messi is expected to spend in Miami.
The strategy paid off. Thus, the cryptocurrency exchange company the history of MLS for jersey sponsorship.
The previous agreement with XBTO was valued at between US$4 and US$5 million per year (CA$5.5 to 6.9 million). His presence also led to the stadium’s name change from DRV PNK to Chase, a bank.
And two weeks after its debut, publicly traded investment fund Ares Management Corp. injected US$75 million (CA$103 million) into the team.
Valuation increase
Forbes’ annual assessment was also revised upwards.
In 2023, the team was valued at US$600 million (CA$823.6 million), which placed it at 11e MLS rank. In 2024, the value climbed to $1.03 billion (C$1.41 billion), a 72% increase that put it second behind LAFC which is valued at $1.2 billion (1 .65 billion CAD).
The team’s revenues were also dramatically affected. In 2023, when he hasn’t even played half a season, they doubled to US$118 million (C$162 million) and in 2024, the forecast reaches US$200 million (C$274.6 million). $ CAD), triple what they were before his arrival. And it will be a new MLS record.
Box office revenues have also increased significantly since the stadium is always full. All season tickets for 2024 were sold out two weeks after the end of the 2023 season.
