‘Nothing without Lionel Messi’ – Why Inter Miami superstar is doing more for MLS than Super Bowl-bound Taylor Swift is for NFL

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner completed a stunning move to the United States in the summer of 2023. He has made an immediate impact on and off the field, with a global audience attracted to domestic competition in the U.S. Pop star Swift has made a similar impression within NFL circles, as she follows partner Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs around the country – with a Seton Hall University poll showing that one in five Americans will be watching Super Bowl LVIII purely because of Swift’s presence in Las Vegas.

Daniel Ladik, the chief methodologist for the aforementioned Seton Hall poll, has told The Athletic of why Messi’s impact can be considered to have trumped Swift’s – despite both boasting a level of celebrity that transcends their chosen profession: “There is one huge fundamental difference between the two. MLS would be absolutely nothing in part of the global sports narrative without Messi. The NFL would still be colossal without Taylor Swift. She just found a way to kick it into another gear.”

Messi, like Swift, has been selling tickets in the States at a remarkable rate. Every Inter Miami game is now a guaranteed sell out, while he has allowed the Florida-based franchise to embark on a historic international tour in 2024. Many of his matches get more eyes on them than NBA and MLB fixtures, with Apple getting the return that they were looking for on a 10-year, $2.5 billion (£2bn) broadcasting rights agreement with MLS.

Ladik added on the Messi effect: “It didn’t seem like those subscription numbers were going all that well. Then Messi joining and that unbelievable run they had in the [Leagues] Cup, that changed the entire narrative of soccer in the United States, and beyond the United States. Everything about that conversation is about one of the world’s most recognisable people at the top of their game, who is actually on the field.”

He went on to say of Messi leaving more of a legacy than the Manchester United and England legend, that is now one of the co-owners at Inter Miami, who made his own move to America with the LA Galaxy in 2007: “There’s certainly no question that David Beckham was an inflection (point) in the history of MLS, but it didn’t sustain itself. I have a feeling that they learned their lesson that time around, and the Messi effect this time will sustain itself.”

Messi and Inter Miami are back on American soil after spending time in the Middle and Far East, with the all-time great not figuring as prominently on that tour as some supporters had hoped. The Herons will kick off their 2024 MLS campaign at home to Real Salt Lake on February 21.