Lionel Messi is a smash hit in Major League Soccer, Inter Miami, and the American sporting landscape. What else can be expected from the face of professional sports and a pop culture icon like Lionel Messi? Already with a championship under his belt and playing to sellout crowds all over MLS, Messi is now heavily impacting the boardroom and the bottom line as well.
It was expected that Messimania would result in a huge boom for MLS and Inter Miami, now the projected numbers are coming in and it is eye raising to say the least. Online before Messi’s arrival Inter Miami had a total of 3.6 million followers across all the social media platforms, today that number is now close to 24 million.
When it comes to revenue projects in 2024, Inter Miami are expecting revenue in the $200 million range putting them among the best in the world in soccer.
Revenue for Inter Miami in 2024
According to Football Benchmark, Inter Miami is expecting to make $200 million in revenue for 2024, the first full season with Lionel Messi. Only 33 other teams in the world earned $200 million in revenue in the 2021/22 season.
The $200 million revenue mark would be the biggest return for any team in the history of Major League Soccer and when compared with other teams around the world it puts Inter Miami in the company of Roma, Ajax, Napoli, Benfica, and Southampton who all earned over $200 million in 2021/22.
As it has been reported the arrival of Messi has led to a surge in kit sales and subscriptions to Apple TV, the only streaming carrier of Major League Soccer. Messi makes a percentage off of the subscriptions and kit sales.
Adidas are working like mad to meet the demands of Messi jerseys as the company announced that kits purchased in July could take as long as October to arrive to the customer.
