Messi boosts Inter Miami revenue but falls short of Man United

Since Lionel Messi joined MLS, Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas says that club revenue has almost quadrupled to $200 million annually. Furthermore, Bloomberg reported that 4% of that revenue comes from selling broadcast rights. For Inter Miami, that’s roughly $8 million per season from the Apple MLS Season Pass deal.

How does that compare to an English Premier League club such as Manchester United? We decided to take a closer look.

Interestingly, Bloomberg reports that gameday revenue is Inter Miami’s largest revenue source. While the specific number wasn’t disclosed, it does highlight the gigantic gulf between Inter Miami and Manchester United. For example, while gameday revenue is Inter Miami’s biggest revenue producer, matchday revenue represents only 20% of Manchester United’s revenue per season. Manchester United’s gameday revenue ($180 million/year) is almost as much as Inter Miami’s total revenue for the year.

See the table below for a breakdown of the revenues between Inter Miami and Manchester United.

Inter Miami vs Manchester United revenues per season

What is most revealing is how much revenue the team generates on every gameday. While exact figures weren’t revealed, we do know that Inter Miami has the most expensive soccer season tickets worldwide.

From 2020 to 2024, Inter Miami season ticket prices increased from between 104% to at least 171%. Season ticket prices range from $867 for the cheapest seat to $45,900 for Premium seats.

Pieter Brown, host of Futbol Miami TV, lamented the high prices.

“They have now priced out a percentage of their fanbase,” Brown told World Soccer Talk. “Soccer in the US has always been a cheap to reasonably priced sporting event, not anymore. It shows that they don’t care if you renew because there is a long waiting list to purchase season tickets.”

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See the table below for a comparison between gameday prices at Inter Miami and Manchester United.

Comparison of gameday revenue for Inter Miami vs Man United

Those prices are just a sampling of a typical gameday for Inter Miami and Manchester United fans.

When Manchester United generates more broadcast revenue each year than MLS does from Apple’s $250 million per-season deal, it helps explain why Inter Miami’s gameday prices are so high to try to find some way to close the enormous gap.

At the end of the day, it’s Inter Miami fans who are paying the price. No, it’s not because of supply and demand at the 21,550-seat Chase Stadium. Demand has increased for tickets to see Messi play, but there are still plenty of seats available for every game. Throughout 2024, tickets have been available on the secondary market for much less than the face value of Inter Miami tickets.

As long as there’s interest in seeing Messi play, Inter Miami will continue to maximize ticket revenue for each home game. Not only that, but Inter Miami is breaking MLS rules to generate more and more revenue from Messi jersey sales.

At the same time, Inter Miami is cutting corners to save money while maximizing the amount of revenue it can make from season ticket holders.

Photo: IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire