Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami presentation has now overtaken Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr presentation as the most viewed football presentation in the world
Approaching the twilights of their legendary career, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are still going head-to-head, pulling the waves when it comes to their global influence and audience in the game.
Last summer, Cristiano Ronaldo made a shock switch to Al Nassr, joining the club with the most lucrative football contract ever.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s record-breaking contract offer was a tip of the iceberg. During his unveiling and presentation at the MrSool Park in Riyadh, Ronaldo again set another landmark as the world stood still to watch the ceremony unfold. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr presentation recorded over 3billion viewers throughout the world.
It was the most viewed global football presentation ever. Ronaldo’s Al Nassr presentation surpassed the 2022 World Cup final viewership of 1.12billion, which was the highest number of views ever recorded in the football fiesta.
Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami presentation surpasses Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr presentation viewership
Lionel Messi is now the new king. Despite a lesser social media followership than Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami presentation has now raised the bar, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr presentation by over 500million viewers, recording 3.5billion views.
The sharp rise in viewership of Lionel Messi’s presentation is not a surprise. Since he confirmed he will join Inter Miami in the next chapter of his career, Inter Miami’s and MLS followership rose exponentially.
After Messi’s decision, Inter Miami’s followers on Instagram increased six times from 1million followers to 6million followers, making the club the most followed sports franchise in the US (on Instagram).
Since then, the Florida-based club have been growing in leaps and bounds. As at the time of filing this report, it has kicked up to 9.4million and is expected to continue growing in the coming days.
However, spurts of growth and following recorded by Inter Miami is not the sole determinant of the astonishing viewership of Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami presentation.
Apple MLS Season Pass has reportedly witness an incredible surge of new subscribers with ticket prices for MLS games going up sharply with the cheapest being $329 following an incredible 1034% rise.
It is understood the increased global viewership for Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami presentation is also linked to the increased number of new subscribers to Apple TV Plus following their MLS-linked deal with Lionel Messi which offers to pay the footie icon a percentage of all MLS streams.
Apple streamed Lionel Messi’s presentation and its growing audience is definitely a huge factor in the 3.5billion recorded viewership.
As Leo prepares for his MLS debut on July 21, it is believed the American TV giants will stand to rake in enormous profits as millions are expected to tune in and watch Messi’s debut appearance in the MLS.
