It was raining but Lionel Messi’s performance at Inter Miami was still a bright moment for MLS. The superstar should become “big business” for the club, league and sponsors – and is rewarded enormously for it.
The main attraction of the evening was casual. Lionel Messi was dressed in business casual as he first stepped onto his new stage at Fort Lauderdale’s DRV PNK Stadium on Sunday. White sneakers, jeans, white t-shirt. He smiled, waved at the crowd, warmly hugged the three Inter Miami owners David Beckham, Jorge and Jose Mas in the rain. And then he said everything you say when you come to a new country and a new league as a superstar. “We’re going to have a good time, great things are going to happen here.”
What exactly he meant by that remained unclear at first. Miami is bottom of the MLS and has not won a league game since mid-May. In terms of sport, the 36-year-old has a lot ahead of him. But before Messi, who has been billed as “Inter Miami’s number ten. America’s number ten. The best number ten in the world”, is set to make his debut against Mexico’s Cruz Azul on Friday, it’s also clear that his involvement in South Florida has come to an end will not be purely sporty.
Saudi Arabia offers $1.3 billion
When the world champion and world star in the pink Inter-Miami jersey with number 10 dribbles through the MLS arenas from Miami to Montreal and Washington to Vancouver, the club, league and sponsors hope for big business. Because Messi’s MLS deal is a sophisticated marketing model.
The Argentine had an offer from Al-Hilal of the Saudi Arabian League. Supposedly he should earn $ 1.3 billion there in three years. A utopian sum for Miami and the MLS. That’s why the Americans tried to convince Messi with a lucrative overall package – and were ultimately successful.
Messi greetings founding a club
When Inter Miami was founded in 2018, Messi congratulated him via video message. The club owners around Beckham made no secret of their ambitious plans from the start. They wanted to bring the big stars into the league. They got: probably the greatest. According to the online portal “The Athletic”, both sides first contacted Barcelona in mid-September 2019.
Miami owners Beckham and Jorge Mas met Messi’s father, Jorge, at a hotel. It was just getting to know each other – nothing more, and lasted only a few hours. Contact became more frequent and closer in the years that followed. At the World Cup final between Argentina and France on December 18, Mas sat in the Messi box at the Lusail Stadium.
Participated in additional income
The MLS liked the idea of bringing the Argentinian magic foot into the league. The Copa America will be held in the USA next year, followed by the World Cup in 2026. There is no better known and better advertising medium for the league than Lionel Andres Messi. In April, the MLS board of directors briefed Apple on the plans. The Californian technology company had secured the global broadcasting rights for the next ten years in 2022, paying the MLS 2.5 billion dollars for it.
If you want to watch the games – they can be received worldwide and without restrictions – you need the MLS Season Pass App. It costs $14.99 per month – or $99 per season. Apple TV customers pay $12.99 per month, or $79 per season. With Messi, so the tenor, the number of internationally sold subscriptions would increase. Therefore, he should be involved in the additional income. The same applies to the profit that the club, league and sponsors would make from his change. An annual salary of between 50 and 60 million dollars would be possible for him.
“Buckle up, it’s going to be quite a ride”
In May, Jorge Mas met Jorge Messi again in Spain. It had long been known that Lionel Messi would leave Paris Saint Germain. Mas knew he had to grab it now. He painted a picture of the biggest current soccer star in the largest global sports market. “How often”he asked Messi Sr., “Do you get a chance in life to change a sport? There will be ‘before Messi’ and ‘after Messi’.”
On June 7th Mas was there. He was sitting in his office on the outskirts of Miami when he found out Messi was coming to South Florida. MLS commissioner Don Garber immediately got in touch with other league officials. “Buckle your seatbelts, this is going to be quite a ride.” Garber’s goal for many years has been that MLS becomes “the league of choice for players, fans, partners and ultimately investors”. He sees himself on the right track. “When the greatest player of all time chooses MLS”according to Garber, “This is a real testament to where MLS is – and where it’s going in the coming years.”
Language and proximity to home are also important
Another point that was decisive for Miami is the language. Messi spoke in Spanish to the fans at his presentation, many of whom were wearing Argentina national shirts. He’ll get along just fine without English in Miami – and Spanish is already firmly established in the MLS due to the many professionals from Latin and South America. The proximity to Argentina should not be underestimated either. From Miami he is in Buenos Aires in nine hours. From Riyadh it would have been 22 hours.