Lionel Messi has moved on to brand new territory in his football career, quite literally. His new contract with Inter Miami may have just been announced last week, but we are already seeing the effects of the move on football fans across the globe. Our insights team delved into the ‘Messi Effect’ to understand how news of his US contract is impacting his fan base demographics.
Major Follower Growth
Days after Messi revealed his plans to sign to the US club, fans old and new quickly joined his side. Inter Miami now has more Instagram followers than every NFL, MLB, NHL and MLS team, sitting at nearly 8M followers.
Interestingly, after a fallout between Messi and a small group of PSG fans, PSG lost several million followers on social media overnight; Messi's influence clearly covers both sides with followers.
Geo split of new followers
Considered by many to be the best player in the most popular sport in the world, it’s not a surprise that the Messi name and brand has gained a following from all over the globe.
We see a diaspora of a global community, breaking down the top ten geos of Inter Miami's new fanbase since Messi has joined:
Expectedly, Messi's home country of Argentina holds the largest proportion of followers as we see in the largest tribe in our study - Argentine Sports & Culture Enthusiasts.
However with US Sports Entertainment Fans sitting as our second largest tribe and follower group, we can see his new team country has provided a warm welcome.
Other key tribes were Middle Eastern, Mexican and Nigerian Sports Fans. When it comes to Europe we see there was little makeup of new followers from those countries, as they have loyal followings for their own star players, who tend to be less known around the world than global superstars, such as Messi.
From Followers to Fans
Online numbers don’t always translate to the stands, but Messi’s move is clearly not one of those occasions. Outside of the vast audience growth brought upon by the transfer, ticket prices have also been soaring, measured above 1,034%.
Conclusion:
Messi is not the first international football player to join US teams, however the major reaction seen by the follower growth and ticket sales speaks to the importance of this move in the football world and its hold on a brand new group of fans dedicated to follow Messi wherever he leads.
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