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Lionel Messi to join Inter Miami - Why is this a historic deal?

Lionel Messi confirms to join Inter Miami and will be heading to MLS. This is the single biggest acquisition for the MLS league in the USA. Check out why this is a historic deal and how it will change American soccer going forward.

Harsh Chopra
Last updated: 08.06.2023
Lionel Messi to join Inter Miami - Why is this a historic deal?

The decision has been made and Lionel Messi has decided that he will play his next season at Inter Miami in the United States of America and this is the single biggest acquisition for the MLS league in the USA. The effects that this move will have are already showing and a lot of more Americans will watch football and a lot of worldwide fans will watch the MLS now just because of Messi. The countries where the league was not shown will start to be shown because of all the demand that there will be .

This deal is truly a historical deal more so for MLS and American Football which will also host the FIFA World Cup in 2026. And having Messi just before that is like having Christmas come early and Inter Miami just became one of the biggest teams in the world. 

So, let’s look at the details of the deal and why this deal is so historic :


Lionel Messi Inter Miami contract details


There was a 3 way race to sign Lionel Messi and one of them was FC Barcelona who were in a rough financial position and they were not in with any real chance to sign him although that is what Lionel Messi wanted the most in his heart but he did not want a repeat of 2021 where he has to leave the club. The second club was Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia who were willing to offer $1.6 billion for 3 years which means more than $500 million per year and that would have made Messi the most expensive player of all time but he decided to go to Inter Miami because of his family and this deal is complex. 

Inter Miami alone did not have the funds to sign Lionel Messi so all the clubs in the MLS chipped it with funds so that this signing can happen because everyone knows how important and game changing this signing will be. And not only that Adidas and Apple have also partnered in this deal as Lionel Messi will get a percentage on Subscriptions to the MLS season pass from Apple TV which will be paid directly by Apple and a percentage of Inter Miami shirt sales which will be paid directly by Adidas.


Why is this deal historic?


It is just another club for Lionel Messi to go to and show his skills but it is indeed historic for the MLS and American Football as a whole. This will bring them the most eyeballs they have ever seen. The social media following of Inter Miami has risen by more than 300% and the ticket price for all the matches of Inter Miami have gone from $50 to $10,000 . The amount of worldwide attention that the MLS will get from this one signing will be humongous.

Lionel Messi will bring fans to the Stadiums and Inter Miami will have to move from their 18,000 seater stadium to the Hard Rock Café Stadium which has a capacity of 70,000 because that is the standard of Messi. The sponsors that both Inter Miami and the league will get are unfathomable. It is like Michael Jordan playing in the Spanish Basketball League. All the celebrities will line up to watch him play and new TV and streaming deals will be made with all the countries around the world like India.

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