‘A wonderful miracle’ – how Messi & Beckham made Miami shine

No one could have predicted what would happen when David Beckham decided to start the Major League Soccer team in Miami in 2013.

The former England captain made his MLS debut in March 2020 after purchasing the US franchise for a discounted £15.6 million as part of a financial package he negotiated when he joined the LA Galaxy in 2007 as a player.

Inter Miami are on the verge of winning the league’s most prize when they face Thomas Muller’s Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS Cup final on Saturday after signing arguably the greatest player in the world Lionel Messi in 2023.

Due to Miami’s enormous surge of interest in football across America, success would cap an exponential rise for “Project Beckham” both on and off the field.

The co-owner Beckham’s role was described as “amazing” by chief business officer Xavi Asensi.

After spending 10 years with Barcelona, Asensi, now 43, served as the club’s chief commercial officer and a member of the club’s executive board. He then joined Inter Miami in April 2021.

The main objective of our negotiations with owners Jorge Mas, [his brother] Jose Mas, and David Beckham in charge, he said, was to win on the pitch.

Lionel Messi, in my opinion, is the greatest player ever, both subjectively and objectively. It’s obvious that you want the best player on your roster, so it’s obvious.

After two seasons at Paris St. Germain, where he won two Ligue 1 titles and a Super Cup, the Argentina-born star made the decision to pursue Miami and MLS.

When the deal was finalized, Beckham woke up at 5am to a slew of notifications; his wife, Victoria, had advised him to turn his phone off, but he later saw the news and cried.

Asensi recalls that we changed from being an MLS club to a club that I would say everyone knew in a matter of days.

Everyone discussed it in “every outlet in the world.” craziness . It launched Inter Miami into the spotlight from Fiji to Anchorage, Patagonia to Mongolia.

Messi and former Barca teammates Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Luis Suarez, and coach Gerardo Martino, who had managed him at Barcelona and with Argentina, reconnected on the pitch in Miami.

He then agreed to stay at Inter Miami until December 2028. According to reports, he makes between £37 million and £45 million from the club, with Apple donating a portion of MLS Season Pass subscription revenue from shirts sales and Adidas boosting his income.

Asensi explains that the US is the world’s number one nation economically and that the world is talking about the number one sport.

Nearly every Inter Miami game was sold out right away, bringing the MLS into the global football conversation.

Their social media presence increased from about two million to about fifty million today.

After Messi’s debut, the average MLS crowd increased by about 20%, and his first 10 games’ average MLS attendance increased by 20%.

The league, which was once viewed as a minor curiosity, quickly gained a significant place in daily sports bulletins. Americans were finally taking their sport seriously.

Tickets went up in a dynamic pricing system. Pre-Messi, prices were around £40, but they are now between £150 and £200 to see Miami in action.

In order to keep up with demand, the teams that host Inter Miami and Messi would relocate.

The Cleveland Browns NFL side’s home field, located 150 miles north of Columbus, moved from Lower.com Field Stadium in Columbus (capacity 20, 371) to Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland (capacity 60, 614).

The largest non-NFL event in the stadium’s history, which had a sellout, set a single-game record for a Crew home game.

Annual club revenue grew from £41m in 2022 to £160m in 2024.

The “Messi effect” led to a record attendance of more than 11.4 million in the years 2023-2014 for the league.

His debut resulted in the addition of 300,000 Apple TV subscribers for the MLS Season Pass, doubling the base. The top-selling item in the league was Messi’s number 10, and merchandise sales increased by 41%.

Other clubs, which had Inter Miami as their host, sold an additional £63 million in tickets. Additionally, gate receipts totalling £198 million increased the average ticket price by 1,700%.

Asensi states, “Leo will be unavoidable. Nobody will be able to fill those shoes, of course. We are attempting to make that legacy a magnet for future generations of talented players.

Inter Miami has become a gathering place for the great and the good from beyond football thanks to a steady flow of sporting icons, pop stars, and global influencers.

Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos could be talking about their past encounters with Serena Williams, while Floyd Mayweather, Tom Brady, or Aryna Sabalenka, Lionel Richie, who Messi was named after, could be having a conversation with LeBron James, Kim Kardashian, or Eva Longoria.

From Art Deco buildings and neon signs to flamingos and pastel coastlines, Beckham quickly realized how deeply the color pink echoes throughout Miami’s visual identity.

He eventually prevailed over the initial strong opposition that pink should be Inter Miami’s defining color.

Beckham contributed to the development of a “Miami” brand. The club is instantly identifiable thanks to its entirely pink identity.

Up until a week ago, Inter Miami had already won two titles, the 2023 Leagues Cup and the 2024 Supporters’ Shield, going from being the champions in a year.

Inter Miami will play most of the MLS campaign at Miami Freedom Park as their new stadium nears completion.

The club has played at Fort Lauderdale’s 21, 500-seat Chase Stadium since joining the league in 2020. Five away games will be played before the season is over to allow for the construction to be finished.

With the new stadium, the club could reach unprecedented heights: Asensi claims that after spending £160 million ($215 million) this season, “we are hoping to go over a quarter of a billion dollars” in income in the coming years.

Overall, Asensi describes it as a miracle. It’s a wonderful miracle because it’s dreamy and daring. We are extremely fortunate to be a part of the club, from the owners to everyone who works there.