Jason Wagenheim, CEO of Footballco, compared Messi’s impact to that of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s in the NFL.
The impact that Messi has had since his arrival in the United States has seen soccer in North America reach new heights, attracting a large number of celebrities and fans who have filled stadiums across the country wherever Inter Miami play.
This year, the United States will be the epicentre of the sport as it prepares to host the Copa América, where the spotlight will be on a certain Argentine whose effect on the country has been compared to that of NFL tight end Travis Kelce and his relationship with pop star Taylor Swift.
“I think to some extent what Lionel Messi has done for the American soccer fan is similar to what Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce did for the recent surge of women watching the NFL,” said Jason Wagenheim, the CEO in the United States of the company Footballco, which has its headquarters in London.
The Messi effect
Soccer has seen enormous growth since the Inter Miami forward’s arrival in the MLS. According to a survey carried out by the aforementioned company, 90% of the United States fans who were interviewed are excited that the Copa América will be played in the United States.
The Copa América will serve as a preview to measure the United States’ capacity to host ahead of the World Cup, and which will take place in 2026, shared with Mexico and Canada.
Inter Miami’s Instagram account has skyrocketed to have more than 16 million followers. In addition to this, the sale of the Argentine star’s shirts are sold out, and new sponsors have arrived for the Florida team, such as Royal Caribbean.
On the other hand, since Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s relationship went public, among teenage girls, NFL viewership has increased by 53%. Among the 18-24 demographic, there has been an increase of 24 percent. Leo Messi or Taylor Swift: who do you prefer?
TapanAjmeraa
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that's why I always said messi is a wise guy he always knows what to do and where to join how to present himself..i mean choosing America over saudi is wiser any day I mean to promote soccer in America MLS doing everything since with messi promotion is easy and America has lots of celebrity world know them unlike saudi where nobody knows any oil producer..population is America is also 10 times to feel stadiums and American really respect telent unlike Asians who always troll others..Ronaldo is dumb and acted like a child I used to be his fan and always defended him but he acted like a child...don't know how to present himself and always worry about what's crowd chanting which gave the crowd more chance to troll him since he always reacted I mean it was good till he was in prime but now he is done so he needs to act humble