Lionel Messi was recognized as the most famous athlete in the country in the last 4th quarter.
According to SSRS, a sports research company, Leo rose to become the number 1 most famous athlete in the US. For the first time in 30 years since SSRS conducted its data poll, a football player topped the list of America’s most popular athletes.
The 2022 World Cup champion is named through data collected in the fourth quarter of 2023 (from September to December – PV). Other superstars such as Michael Jordan, Steph Curry, LeBron James (basketball), Tiger Woods (golf), Peyton Manning and Tom Brady (rugby) have also had similar honors.
Thanks to the Messi effect, Inter Miami also quickly rose to become America’s most popular MLS club in the fourth quarter, on the same website. They beat LA Galaxy, David Beckham’s old club.
In another study by Sportico, only four MLS teams reached a value of $1 billion. Besides Inter Miami, the remaining three teams are Los Angeles FC (1.15 billion USD), Atlanta United (1.05 billion USD) and LA Galaxy (1 billion USD).
No team can match Inter Miami in terms of growth over the past year. Inter Miami increased in value by 74% in just a short time.
Leo’s presence opens a new chapter for Inter Miami. Within weeks of his arrival, Inter Miami celebrated a historic Leagues Cup victory. They also reached the US Open Cup final before losing to the Houston Dynamo.
