It’s now been over one year since Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest player in soccer history, chose to sign for Inter Miami. The arrival of the Argentine was, of course, seen has a huge coup for Miami and the wider MLS. Sure, Messi might be at the end of his career, an issue we will get to a bit later, but his arrival was hailed as being potentially transformative. Indeed, the entire uplift to the sport of soccer has been dubbed the Messi Effect. It has, of course, been well-documented that Messi has had a positive effect on everything from crowd attendance to shirt sales. Some of these elements can be measured in statistics (see below), whereas others, ranging from kids kicking a ball in their yard to increased sports betting on MLS games, can be harder to quantify. Moreover, it is also difficult to measure the “stickiness of the Messi Effect, i.e., whether it will last when the great Argentine hangs up his boots. That said, it’s hard to argue with the huge impact he has had in just a year. Some of the important numbers are mentioned below: The Messi Effect in Numbers: - Inter Miami's projected revenue for 2024 is $200 million, which is more than triple the amount before Messi's signing​. - Messi’s signing has seen social media engagement rocket for US soccer. Some of the highlights include over 2,400% increase in interactions on Facebook and over 1,200% on Twitter X. - 25 of the 29 MLS clubs have reported increased attendance since Messi arrived in Miami, with around a 7% rise overall (2024 versus 2023 figures). Miami itself has sold out of season tickets and had to expand its stadium. - Apple TV holds the rights to broadcast MLS in the US, and it was a key part of the Messi deal going through. The streaming service has seen subscribers of its MLS Season Pass increase by more than 100%. A long way to go These numbers look mightily impressive, but it is worth noting that there is a long way to go until soccer can catch up with the traditional Big 4 US sports. The biggest-ever viewership for an MLS game was back in 1996 for the inaugural MLS Cup Final, which drew just over 3 million viewers. Yet, we know that the Super Bowl regularly gets well over 100 million viewers, and NBA Playoff games measure audiences in 10s of millions. Soccer is no longer a niche sport in the US, but the gulf in popularity remains. The 2026 World Cup We cannot talk about Messi’s arrival without mention of the World Cup, which will be held in the US (and partly in Canada and Mexico) in the summer of 2026. The US did have the World Cup back in 1994, which prompted many to speculate on a golden era of soccer in the US. By and large, that didn’t happen. However, with Messi starring for Miami and the fact that the USMNT is in a much better position than 30 years ago, there is a better platform to build upon. The aging maestro It should not be forgotten that Messi is coming toward the end of his career. He turned 37 in late June, so there is still a couple of years for him to shine, but it might also be characterized by decline. Soccer players are playing longer than ever before – look at Portugal’s Pepe (41) and Messi’s old rival Cristiano Ronaldo (39) – yet he cannot postpone the inevitable. In addition, one might argue that it will take years to build soccer broadly across the United States, and Messi does not have that sort of time. A legacy nonetheless In the mid-1970s the great Pele and George Best both had stints in what was then called the NASL (North American Soccer League). This was perhaps the first time that pundits believed foreign stars would grow the sport in the country. To an extent, they did, but only up to a point. There are parallels with Messi’s arrival, yet the Argentine has come with soccer in a different place. Ten years from now, long after the little magician has hung up his cleats, we may still be talking about the Messi Effect, the impact of one player’s influence on the world’s most popular sport in a country that has never fully embraced it.