Since the Argentine revealed his intention to move to Miami on Wednesday, the franchise co-owned by David Beckham has seen the number of followers on his Instagram account increase fivefold.
On Wednesday morning, the Inter account was followed by some 900,000 people and was rising amid reports that Miami was one of the destinations that Messi considered his departure from Paris Saint-Germain.
This figure went on to exceed 5.7 million followers less than 24 hours after Messi publicly opted to join Inter, a team with just three and a half years of existence in the MLS and very discreet sporting results.
This number of followers more than doubles that of the Kansas City Chiefs, current champions of the American Football League (NFL), and exceeds the 4.5 million followers of the Dallas Cowboys, considered the most popular team in the sport.
At the level of American professional leagues, the number of Inter fans is greater than that of all NFL and Major League Baseball teams, as well as 75% of NBA franchises.
On all your social platforms, Inter now has more than 7.5 million followersadding more than five million on the day of the announcement.
The team of Beckham It is not, however, the most popular on the networks in the city of Miami since the Heat, who are currently playing in the NBA Finals, have 27 million followers on all their platforms.
It is not difficult to anticipate that the attraction of Inter will continue to grow once Messi, who has 469 million followers on Instagram, dons the team’s pink uniform.
The former Barcelona star, winner of seven Ballon d’Ors, is the second most popular athlete on Instagram, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 588 million followers.
The decision of Messi it also generated a huge impact on the ticket market for MLS matches.
Logitix, a technology company specializing in ticketing, found that ticket demand for Inter tickets, both at their stadium and away, quadrupled in the 24 hours after Messi’s announcement compared to the entire 169-day period. previous.
The average purchase price for Inter’s matches at its DRV PNK Stadium, with a capacity for 19,100 spectators, rose from $31 to $152, while for away games it increased from $94 to $207.
The average price for the team’s debut in the Leagues Cup on July 21 against the Mexican Cruz Azul, indicated as Messi’s possible debut day in Miami, went from $24 to $521.
As of that day, the club’s official site only offered tickets on sale Thursday for a game at Inter’s home ground before the end of the MLS regular season on October 21.
That clash is the one on July 25 against the Atlanta United of his teammate Thiago Almada and available tickets were between $3,000 and $6,000.
Given this level of demand, MLS teams could consider moving games involving Messi to larger stadiums.
Many teams in the league compete in home arenas with 20,000 to 25,000 seats while the giant NFL stadiums located in most of the same cities would triple the capacity available.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
