Inter Miami Scores Record Revenue with Messi. How Much Bigger Can It Get?

Inter Miami won’t be competing for this weekend’s MLS Cup, but the team very well might end up the league’s top-earning club this season, despite not making the playoffs.

Thanks to the arrival of Lionel Messi in July, Miami’s 2023 total revenue will land upwards of $120 million, the club’s chief business officer, Xavier Asensi, told Sports Business Journal. In 2022, MLS champions LAFC — which faces the Columbus Crew in Saturday’s final — reportedly brought in a league-high $116 million.  

Inter Miami’s number falls in line with early projections this summer from club managing owner Jorge Mas, who expected revenue to double over the next year from last season’s $50 million. Asensi reiterated the club’s expectation to hit the $200 million revenue mark in 2024. Season tickets for next year have, unsurprisingly, already sold out.

The club’s financial success continues despite a failed attempt to travel to China for a two-game tour this fall during a portion of the MLS Cup playoffs. The tour could have brought in more than $20 million in ticket revenue alone.

Even with record goals for 2024, Inter Miami’s revenue could soar still higher in 2025, when a new $350 million soccer-specific stadium is scheduled to open. The club is racing to finish that venue, and the $1 billion development around it, in time for the 2025 season — the last under Messi’s current contract.