Pelé, Beckham and Messi, the triangle of MLS success
“I come to spread soccer in a country that still doesn’t know it”, this is how the Brazilian star landed in American soccer in 1975. Pelé arrived at what was formerly known as the North American Soccer League (NASL) in what would be a great solution for both. He overcame his serious financial problems with a salary of 4.5 million dollars at the time and soccer in the United States took on a different dimension beyond sharing a name with the true local sport, American football.. His mere presence managed to double the average attendance at his club: The New York Cosmos.
30 years later, Beckham arrived in Major League Soccer, the heir to the NASL competition dissolved in 1985 due to poor financial management. Beckham was the first franchise player in a league that was refounded in 1993 as a toll for the celebration of the 1994 World Cup in the United States. The Englishman arrives at the Los Angeles Galaxy with a five-year contract and with ‘the Jordan formula’, that is, although his salary was 6.4 million dollars a year, the Englishman reserved a percentage of the team’s merchandising.
This formula, which the Chicago Bulls guard debuted, as well as family well-being, as revealed by the Argentine himself, are the keys that have finished seducing Lionel Messi to choose Miami ahead of the Arab soccer proposal, which guaranteed him 400 million euros per season. A formula, by the way, that you would probably hear from Beckham himself at the meeting they held this spring. «I had to go to the USA. to experience football in a different way”, declared the Argentine.
It is not just a percentage of merchandising, in the case of Messi, the Argentine could have also reserved variable income for television increases as well as the possibility of acquiring part of an MLS franchise. Clause, by the way, which David Beckham took advantage of to enter precisely at Inter Miami.
However, this movement exceeds football. Messi’s departure from PSG has made the Parisian club lose more than two million followers on social networks while the Florida team has gained more than one. And as for Barcelona, according to a 2021 report by Brand Finance, his departure from the Culé club could have led to an 11% drop in brand value, equivalent to a staggering €137m reduction from its valuation of 1,266 million euros in 2021.
It is obvious that Messi does not arrive at the zenith of his career, but neither does he arrive at the end like other stars who played before in American football such as Pelé, Beckham or the Cruyff, Beckenbauer or even the Welshman Gareth Bale.. “Obviously, he’s the biggest signing ever,” said Nashville defender Walker Zimmerman, a regular for the US national team.
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Inter Miami facilities. Images via AFP
Inter Miami, the group in which the Argentine will end up, is far from aspiring to win a competition that 29 teams dispute between the two conferences that exist: east and west. In fact, this year they are last in their conference, the east, with only five wins and 11 losses.
These results have cost the coach, Phil Neville, his job, and now another Argentinian, Javier Morales, is there on an interim basis.. Messi joins the team shortly after another compatriot of his, Gonzalo Higuaín, the player with the most games played in the team (70) and the top scorer in its history with 29 goals, withdrew.
And it is that, precisely, the history of Inter Miami is very short. Created in 2018, the most international city in Florida returned to the top flight after its previous representative, the Miami Fusion, disappeared in 2002.
«Reminds Beckham a bit when he arrived. You have seen how the league has changed in the 15 years since his arrival, and hopefully 15 years from now we will see all the growth of this addition to the league,” Zimmerman said.
World Cup 2026
It is not just about the attraction of a great star like Messi, American soccer has another great challenge with the celebration of the 2026 World Cup. Along with the hiring of the Argentine, American universities have raised spending to attract talent and thus form a competitive absolute team.
The importation of young people, especially Spaniards (Spain leads the investment with more than 100 million) helps to improve the level of the lower categories in order to obtain more competitive North American players. American football wants to be built on great stars and young talent.