In January, as Inter Miami arrived in El Salvador for its first preseason match of 2024, hundreds of cheering fans greeted the team’s convoy of pink buses, jostling past one another just to catch a glimpse of, arguably, the most famous athlete on the planet, Lionel Messi. Such an impassioned welcome in a foreign country would have been unimaginable eight months ago when Inter Miami, one of the more recent additions to Major League Soccer, was a last-place club with little global recognition beyond its minority co-owner, David Beckham. But that all changed in June when Messi announced that South Florida would become his next soccer home, forever altering the franchise’s trajectory.
His impact was immediate. A month after his arrival, Messi led Inter Miami to its first-ever trophy, at the inaugural Leagues Cup, with a dramatic penalty shootout victory. Off the field, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner supercharged the team’s business operations, with revenue more than doubling to $118 million in 2023, from $56 million in 2022. The rapid change in fortune has fueled the club’s appreciation. Forbes estimates Inter Miami is now the second-most-valuable MLS team, worth $1.03 billion after a 72% bump from a year ago. The franchise is the second in league history to achieve a billion-dollar valuation, following in the cleated footsteps of LAFC, which did so in 2023 and remains MLS’s most valuable team, at $1.2 billion.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2024/02/02/major-league-soccers-most-valuable-teams-2024/?sh=2e6a89ef3347
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His impact was immediate. A month after his arrival, Messi led Inter Miami to its first-ever trophy, at the inaugural Leagues Cup, with a dramatic penalty shootout victory. Off the field, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner supercharged the team’s business operations, with revenue more than doubling to $118 million in 2023, from $56 million in 2022. The rapid change in fortune has fueled the club’s appreciation. Forbes estimates Inter Miami is now the second-most-valuable MLS team, worth $1.03 billion after a 72% bump from a year ago. The franchise is the second in league history to achieve a billion-dollar valuation, following in the cleated footsteps of LAFC, which did so in 2023 and remains MLS’s most valuable team, at $1.2 billion.
Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2024/02/02/major-league-soccers-most-valuable-teams-2024/?sh=2e6a89ef3347
Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
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SportsTranscript
00:00 In January, as Inter Miami arrived in El Salvador for its first preseason match of 2024, hundreds
00:06 of cheering fans greeted the team's convoy of pink buses, jostling past one another just
00:11 to catch a glimpse of arguably the most famous athlete on the planet, Lionel Messi.
00:16 Such an impassioned welcome in a foreign country would have been unimaginable eight months
00:21 ago when Inter Miami, one of the more recent additions to Major League Soccer, was a last
00:26 place club with little global recognition beyond its minority co-owner, David Beckham.
00:32 But all that changed in June, when Messi announced that South Florida would become his next soccer
00:36 home, forever altering the franchise's trajectory.
00:41 Forbes estimates Inter Miami is now MLS's second most valuable franchise at $1.03 billion,
00:48 and they're not the only ones reaping the benefits of Messi-mania.
00:51 Teams lucky enough to host games against Miami in 2023 scored massive gate revenue increases,
00:57 including the New York Red Bulls, Nashville SC, and the Chicago Fire, which drew over
01:02 62,000 fans to Soldier Field for a game in which Messi never actually played.
01:07 Those bumps, additional games from the inaugural League's Cup tournament, and a move by MLS
01:13 to decrease the ticket revenue it collects from teams helped power a 20% increase in
01:18 average revenue across the League to $66 million in 2023.
01:24 Also bolstering the League are the rising valuations across other American sports.
01:29 For ultra-high net worth individuals with dreams of owning a sports team, MLS remains
01:34 a cost-friendly option.
01:36 Forbes now estimates the average MLS club is worth $658 million, up 14% from a year
01:43 ago.
01:44 Here are Major League Soccer's top five most valuable clubs for 2024.
01:50 At number five is New York City FC, worth an estimated $850 million.
01:55 The club is majority owned by City Football Group, the parent company of English Premier
01:59 League powerhouse Manchester City.
02:02 But Yankee Global Enterprises, which is controlled by the Steinbrenner family, has a piece as
02:06 well.
02:07 NYC FC currently splits time between Yankee Stadium and Citi Field as its home venue,
02:13 and plans to move into a new, soccer-specific stadium in Queens in 2027.
02:19 Atlanta United ranks number four, worth an estimated $900 million.
02:24 The club, which is owned by Home Depot co-founder and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, had
02:29 an early playoff exit last season, but remains one of the best moneymakers in the sport.
02:34 Atlanta's $95 million in 2023 revenues is tied for third in the League with the LA Galaxy.
02:41 Speaking of the LA Galaxy, Philip Ann Schuetz's franchise ranks number three, worth an estimated
02:46 $950 million.
02:48 The Galaxy are one of the ten original MLS franchises, and the club has a rich history
02:52 that features stars like David Beckham, Landon Donovan, and Zlatan Ibrahimović.
02:57 In the past few years, the Galaxy have become preseason hosts for several clubs around the
03:01 League, as part of the Coachella Valley Invitational.
03:05 Inter Miami is now the second most viable MLS team, worth an estimated $1.03 billion
03:11 after a 72% bump from a year ago.
03:14 The franchise is the second in League history to achieve a billion-dollar valuation, following
03:19 in the cleated footsteps of LAFC.
03:22 A month after his arrival, Messi led Inter Miami to its first-ever trophy at the inaugural
03:27 Leagues Cup with a dramatic penalty shootout victory.
03:31 Off the field, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner supercharged the team's business operations,
03:36 with revenue more than doubling to $118 million in 2023 from $56 million in 2022.
03:43 However, Messi's presence on the roster isn't solely responsible for Inter Miami's $430
03:49 million value increase year over year.
03:52 The club has shrewdly capitalized on its megastar's commercial potential, starting even before
03:57 he arrived.
03:58 And the first full season with Messi in the United States offers even more upside, including
04:02 increased stadium attendance and higher average ticket prices.
04:07 And at number one for the second consecutive year is LAFC, at an estimated $1.2 billion.
04:13 The club turned a $9 million operating profit on a league-high $140 million in revenue for
04:18 2023.
04:19 It also added a 10-year, $100 million stadium naming rights pact with BMO prior to last
04:24 season, and in July, drew an MLS single-game record 82,110 fans to the Rose Bowl for its
04:31 rivalry match with the LA Galaxy.
04:33 LAFC pads its bottom line with a suite of non-MLS businesses, including concerts and
04:38 other events.
04:39 BMO Stadium sold more than 1.3 million tickets in 2023, and Polestar ranked the venue number
04:45 five on its year-end Top 100 Stadiums list, with a gross of $109 million, despite a capacity
04:52 of only 22,000.
04:54 LAFC has also dabbled in building its own network of soccer teams, adding a 90% stake
04:59 in Switzerland's grasshopper club Zurich.
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