There is a special coincidence that when entering the twilight of their careers, both Pele and Messi chose America as their destination, even though football is not the most popular sport here.
In 1975, Pelé left Santos to play for the New York Cosmos in the United States. In three seasons, Pelé scored 65 goals in 111 games for the New York Cosmos and led the club to the 1977 US Championship.
In 1975, Pele moved to the United States to play for the New York Cosmos at the age of 34, having already won three World Cups (1958, 1962 and 1970). His presence there caused a surge in interest in soccer among Americans. The North American Soccer League (NASL) at that time always attracted an average of 25,000 spectators per game, an unimaginable number in a country where people only knew basketball, football or tennis.
Pele in a match in the US
48 years later, at the invitation of David Beckham, former England international and current co-chairman of Inter Miami FC playing in the Major League Soccer (MLS), Messi arrived in the United States right after becoming the 2022 World Cup champion, the only title missing in his career.
Unlike Pele, many people think that Messi will find it difficult to succeed in the US and bring freshness to this tournament because he is about to enter retirement age (35 years old). But regardless of all that, Messi still brings unimaginable things to American football.
Messi arrives in the US after becoming the 2022 World Cup champion
According to online ticketing portal StubHub, Inter Miami’s 2024 MLS season ticket sales this February have increased 150-fold compared to the same time last year, and are now outselling the second-highest-grossing team, the LA Galaxy, by 35% and the third-highest-grossing team, the New England Revolution, by double. Ticket sales on StubHub for the entire MLS season this year are also up seven-fold compared to the same time last year.
Inter Miami’s best-selling match was the away match against LA Galaxy on February 26 in the MLS, with ticket prices ranging from $250 to $7,820. One fan spent $790,000 to watch Messi and his teammates play, setting a record for the most expensive ticket price in world football history.
American audiences flock to the stadium to watch Messi play.
In addition, in the first half of the 2023 season when he played for Inter Miami, Messi had a huge impact on the growth of MLS. Ticket sales increased, sponsorship money increased, and the number of MLS TV subscriptions also skyrocketed. Specifically, revenue from TV subscription income increased by 25%, matchday sponsorship revenue and club sponsorship revenue increased by 15%, sponsorship revenue from the Canadian region increased by 45%, and revenue from tournament-related consumer goods also increased by 45%.
In 2022, Inter Miami achieved revenue of about 56 million USD. But from 2023, Messi helped Inter Miami from a team valued at about 600 million USD, entered the "1 billion USD club group" with a value of up to 1.03 billion USD (an increase of 72%) from the beginning of 2024.
It's all thanks to the Messi effect!
A recent poll by SSRS shows that Messi is the most popular and famous athlete in the US, surpassing famous American sports names such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods or Kobe Bryant...
The explosive moments Messi brought to American football
Both are world champions, both came to America in their twilight years, but both Pele and Messi have done and are doing unimaginable things for American football.
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