Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami debut is not as spectacular and flashy as Cristiano Ronaldo’s at Al-Nassr or Karim Benzema’s at Al-Ittihad, but it is sufficient to demonstrate the Argentine superstar’s greatness.
The amount of people watching King Leo’s debut at Inter Miami on July 16 eclipsed all prior records, according to chairman David Beckham, and will go down in history with 3.5 billion followers. This figure pushes the previous record of 3 billion individuals watching the CR7 launch ceremony at Al-Nassr in January into the past.
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It should be noted that, prior to the debuts of these two players at Al-Nassr and Inter Miami, respectively, the 2022 World Cup final had the biggest live viewership ever, with 1.12 billion followers. David Beckham’s team had to overcome several obstacles in order to convince “King Leo” to sign a two-and-a-half-year contract with the option to extend it to 2026 at a salary of $60 million per season. Your opponent desires you.
“We worked on this deal for three years, preparing, convincing, and bringing Lionel Messi to the club.” And the situation has been heated for the past year and a half. Several discussions with Jorge Messi (Messi’s father and agent). At the end of May 2023, I personally met him at the club office. David Beckham only communicates with Leo about football. Because he was still playing and on the PSG staff at the time.
I don’t want him to feel pressed in any way. We discussed it in Barcelona, Miami, Rosario, and Doha… I was in Qatar at the 2022 World Cup to watch Argentina win the championship with him. The arrangement with Apple is critical for us to have a complete advantage in acquiring Leo,” said Jorge Mas, the club’s co-owner with Beckham.
The Messi effect, on the other hand, was immediate. In addition to breaking records for the number of people who watched Messi’s debut on July 16 and shirt sales, the Argentine superstar assisted Inter Miami in attracting talents in the afternoon of his career departing Europe to join the team.
Not only that, but the number of Inter Miami followers jumped sixfold, from 1 million to 6 million, despite Messi having fewer social media followers than Ronaldo. Furthermore, Messi’s involvement considerably increased interest in the MLS tournament. The ticket price for King Leo’s first match between Inter Miami and Cruz Azul tomorrow (July 21) was originally $29, but just 24 hours after he arrived, it climbed more than tenfold to $329.
Messi is expected to take the MLS to the next level and help Inter Miami greatly improve its performance and outcomes on the pitch. “I am so moved to be here in Miami, and I want to thank you for your generosity and love.” This happened so quickly and was just fantastic…
I’m excited to train and compete. Our goal is to win and stay here. I’m confident we’ll have a fantastic time together. “I want to contribute to Inter Miami’s continued growth.” 3.5 billion people watched Messi’s remarks at the Inter Miami inauguration event.
Messi obviously does not follow the call of money. He picked Inter Miami and relocated his family to the United States. Stable temperature, open culture, most of Floridians are Hispanic (and Messi speaks Spanish), close to Argentina, and MLS is a far less demanding league. Messi, more than anyone, understands the importance of adapting to a new environment and a new life.
When he joined PSG in the summer of 2021, he and his family struggled for a year to acclimate to Paris. Messi and his family will live a calm existence away from the flowery Paris by moving to Florida and Inter Miami. The word for today is “loud.”
