“When we wrote the club’s dream, this is exactly what we meant. One year since Messi debuted in the pink shirt of Inter Miami, everything has come true,”
David Beckham wrote on Instagram to celebrate the first anniversary of the 37-year-old Argentine player joining the team he is president and co-owner of.
The former English player also posted a viral clip, reviewing Messi’s achievements at Inter Miami over the past year, most notably the Leagues Cup trophy.
Immediately after that, he made his debut for the new team on July 22, 2023,
and immediately scored the winning goal for the home team in the 90+4 minute with a super free kick (winning 2-1 against Mexico’s Cruz Azul).
Witnessing this goal, David Beckham burst into tears and the elite American sports world was overwhelmed by the “magic football” displayed by Messi.
In a year playing for Inter Miami, with a total of 29 matches up to now, Messi has scored 25 goals, contributed 16 assists and won 1 Leagues Cup championship.
In 2024, after winning the Copa America with the Argentina team to set a record of 45 championship titles, the most in the history of world football, Messi will have more opportunities to increase his record of championship titles when Inter Miami is about to defend the Leagues Cup championship in August. Next is the biggest goal of winning the MLS Cup championship (playing from October to December 7).
Messi is currently nursing a ligament injury in his right ankle. He still wears a foot protector when attending recent Inter Miami events.
However, according to the US press, this famous player is about to return to play when Inter Miami meets UANL Club (Mexico) on August 4 in the second round of the Leagues Cup group stage.
Inter Miami has just set a record when in the last 7 matches, they won 6 and lost only 1, topping the MLS Eastern region rankings with 53 points after 25 matches (5 points ahead of the second-placed team FC Cincinnati), and has secured a place in the MLS play-off round right from the first round. If they maintain this achievement in the remaining 9 matches, Inter Miami will win the Supporters’ Shield title (for the team with the best performance in the MLS scoring round).
In 1 year of coming to the US, Messi has helped the team of Mr. David Beckham as president and co-owner, increase its value from 600 million USD to 1.03 billion USD (an increase of 72%). Annual revenue increased from $60 million to $200 million (up 233%) and increased the number of followers on social media Instagram from 1 million to 17 million to date (up 1,600%).
Not only with Inter Miami, Messi also helped MLS increase the number of viewers at the stadium to 6.5 million, up 725,000 compared to last year. Matches with Messi, regardless of the stadium, are sold out, setting records such as Sporting Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium with more than 70,000 spectators, or the New England Revolution Club’s stadium with 65,612 spectators coming to watch…
“Do you remember the ticket fever? The cheapest ticket price for Messi’s debut match increased from 29 USD (more than 700,000 VND) to 459 USD (more than 11.6 million VND) in just one night. Chicago Fire FC sold out tickets at Soldier Field, which has a capacity of 62,000 seats, just because of Messi. Even when the famous player was injured and could not play, the match still generated 55% of the ticket sales revenue for the entire season of this club”, Marca (Spain) expressed.
Messi’s influence also spreads globally, helping Inter Miami have a profitable Asian tour (early 2024). Despite Cristiano Ronaldo playing in Saudi Arabia, Messi’s arrival here has been a major draw. Demand for Messi has not slowed down, with Inter Miami having sold out all their season tickets for 2024, despite ticket prices nearly doubling from last year, according to Marca.
Messi is still under contract with Inter Miami until 2025, with an option to extend the following year. The club’s leadership, with David Beckham as president, has always hoped to extend the star’s time at the club as long as possible. Even after the 2026 World Cup.
