The Future. It’s official: Lionel Messi is in Miami. Inter Miami — the team that amazingly beat out Saudi Arabia to land the athlete — is strategizing to make this their “David Beckham moment” for Miami and transform the US into a top player in the world’s most popular sport.
The Messi EffectInter Miami is hoping Messi turns the city into the soccer capital of the US.
It’s selling tickets for a minimum of $350 a pop… and will likely sell out.
It’s building a $1 billion stadium in Miami’s Freedom Park.
It saw its Instagram followers leap from 900,000 to 10 million.
As Sheffield Business School football finance expert Rob Wilson told the investment platform Saxo, “Messi’s impact is all about profile — that individual personality, at the pinnacle of his playing career, was a massive coup for the MLS. Sponsors and partners want to be associated and that’s what he brings.”
And for his part, Messi is getting $150 million over two and a half years, a share of the revenue from MLS’ deals with AppleTV+ and adidas, and some good ole’ Miami sun.
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