Lionel Messi has just added another award to his vast treasure trove: Best Athlete of 2023 voted by Time magazine. It was a reward for the Argentine superstar who, after convincing the world that he was the greatest player on the planet with his 8th Golden Ball , created a fever in America, sweeping the country of basketball, rugby, baseball into a sport called football.

Messi’s impressive moments at Inter Miami . Photo: Getty Images

Statistics show that the number of spectators attending Inter Miami’s home stadium has increased by 40%, the largest spike in the tournament. Inter Miami also became the first MLS team to average 30,000 away fans. This also leads to a sharp increase in revenue, expected to reach 200 million USD in 2024, 3 times higher than before.

Messi’s presence also benefits the rest of the tournament. Dan Hunt, President of FC Dallas, said that the match against Inter Miami was “the club’s highest-grossing night of all time”, or that the number of spectators coming to Soldier Field to watch the match between Chicago Fire and Inter Miami reached A record number of 62,124 people, many times higher than the average number of 15,422. MLS also happily said that Messi’s shirt is the most sold shirt in the tournament’s history.

Messi’s debut, alongside the owners of Inter Miami. Photo: Getty Images

And according to analytics firm Antenna, on the day Messi made his Inter Miami debut, Apple added about 110,000 subscribers to its MLS Season Pass service , the biggest single-day spike ever and more 1,700% compared to the previous day. These numbers show the investment of Inter Miami, MLS and even Apple, the league’s partner, is willing to share a portion of the revenue from MLS Season Pass subscriptions on Apple TV+.

Now Americans can confidently say that they are a soccer nation. Even crazy about football and the greatest characters this sport has produced.

However, money is not the main reason that brought Messi to MLS. As he shared in TIME, “there were many interesting proposals on the table that forced me to analyze, think, and even discuss with my family before making the final decision.”

The Argentine star said: “My first choice was to return to Barca, which I tried, but couldn’t do. I also thought a lot about going to Saudi Arabia because I know this country well as a tourism Ambassador, and also see that football here is developing, given their efforts to create a top league. ”.

Why did Messi come to Inter Miami?

The story began in early 2018, when the pink shirt team was founded by David Beckham and brothers Jorge and Jose Mas, two Miami-based businessmen who run the construction company MasTec. They have the same idea of ​​attracting Messi to join them, but it seems that this is a dream that is difficult to come true.

The first meeting was promoted in September 2019 in Barcelona. An executive from Adidas, Messi’s long-time sponsor, organized a meeting between Beckham, Jorge Mas and Jorge Messi , Messi’s father. La Pulga is excited about Inter Miami’s vision but is not ready to say goodbye to Barca.

Messi could not be persuaded, but a close relationship was formed. When the Argentina team trained in Miami to prepare for the 2022 World Cup, Mas reminded Jorge Messi: “Listen, very few athletes have the ability to change the history of sports in a country. Messi has that opportunity in the world’s largest commercial market, which is the United States.”

At the same time, Mas also discussed his intention to bring Messi to MLS with Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, a partner preparing to sign a $2.5 billion contract with MLS. Cue was especially excited about the deal, which he said was similar to “the London Basketball Association signing LeBron James”.

In February 2023, Inter Miami was valued at 600 million USD by Forbes, ranking 11th in MLS. With Messi’s participation, there is a fever for tickets, jerseys and commercial contracts. It is expected that in 2024, Beckham’s team will be worth about 1.5 billion USD, higher than Los Angeles FC, the team’s value. currently most valuable with 1 billion USD.

During the 2022 World Cup, Mas did not miss any of Argentina’s matches. And when Messi is crowned, he is confident that he will succeed.

“Contrary to the majority, who think that convincing Messi will be more difficult if he wins the championship, I am 1,000% convinced. After reaching the top, he needed a new chapter different from the previous one. The blank pages have not been written,” Mas said.

Mas was right. However, there is still another barrier, which is Messi’s family. That’s when Beckham took action. The British legend, who moved to LA Galaxy in 2007, then settled in the US, recounted: “I told him, from a family perspective, 6 years in Los Angeles was the best time we had. have been. People always welcome us with open arms, not only Los Angeles but all over the United States.”

So Messi and his family boarded a plane to go to Miami, which is located next to the crocodile-filled mangrove forests of the Everglades and welcomes the sunrise from the Atlantic Ocean, so it is known as the “Gateway to America.” ”.

In a sense, football here, or more precisely the whole United States, is still as mysterious as the Everglades forests. It is not popular because it is stereotyped as being for the upper class because it is expensive and cannot be played on the streets or parks. The Americans tried to change this concept by inviting top stars, such as Pele, Beckham and Thiery Henry, then hosting the 1994 World Cup. However, the change was quite slow, until Messi arrived. and bring the sunrise.

It didn’t take much time for Messi to integrate and show his class immediately. He scored 10 goals in just 7 matches in the League Cup and led Inter Miami to the championship, while also creating countless other magnificent performances in MLS and the US Open Cup.

Messi’s matches not only attract tens of thousands of spectators, but also become a gathering place for top stars, from Kim Kardashian to LeBron James. But no one paid attention to them. Everyone just watched Messi, enjoying every moment that the 36-year-old superstar brought.