Messi-mania seems destined to divide MLS history into before and after his arrival. Arguably the best football player of all time arrived in Florida and that event is one of the most profitable marketing moves by a club in the history of sports. All figures show just that. The average price of tickets for the Inter Miami games increased by 205 percent, or in absolute terms from 122 to 373 dollars in just three days between the fourth and seventh of July. On Smarter Tickets, one of the ticket resale platforms, the price for Messi’s first match against Mexican Cruz Azul reached 712 dollars, and that’s for the cheapest ones. A guy travels 2000 km to Philly to see Messi who is….in Argentina?The sale of jerseys is also increasing rapidly. On the digital platform through which the MLS leagues release their official sports equipment, more items were sold only in the first ten days after Messi signed for Inter Miami, than for the entire year 2022. According to ‘Fanatics’, the first 24 hours after his signing were the best 24 hours in the history of the sport in terms of shirt sales for a single player, surpassing the previous record set by Cristiano Ronaldo, after his return to Manchester United in 2021. Among the top four are NFL goat Tom Brady (after joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and LeBron James (after signing for the Los Angeles Lakers).Messi factor: All Inter’s tickets sold out, prices are up, and Insta followers grow by the minuteAdidas senior director Tom Southard announced that all sets of Messi jerseys in the official online store of the MLS league are sold out and that the new ones will be available for purchase only in October, and it is necessary to allocate 195 dollars for one. Needless to say, Inter Miami is the club with the most sold jerseys in the last two months, ahead of any European football giant. This event had a much deeper impact on the local population, and the ‘shopaholic’ atmosphere was clear when it was announced that on the day of Messi’s signing, 50 percent more money was spent on all goods and services in Miami than the day before.Messi turns Inter Miami into Barca: Two goals and an assist in a 4-0 victoryGoogle Analytics is particularly favorable to the club founded only five years ago. By as much as 1200%, the number of searches related to Inter Miami increased, and in the period from July 17 to 20, a few days before Messi’s debut, the club co-owned by David Beckham was among the top 10 most searched terms in the search engine. What Inter does not directly benefit from are collectibles. From memorabilia and posters with Messi’s image to old tickets from matches where the maestro from Rosario played, all could be found on Ebay. The marketing side couldn’t be better, and the sporting side is off to a great start as well. Three goals and one assist in his first two games, including a free-kick to win against Cruz Azul on his debut in the final moments of the match is as good as it gets for Messi. ##NAJAVA_MECA_7403155##
