Inter Miami’s forward Lionel Messi tops SportsPro’s 50 latest rankings of the Most Marketable Athletes in the world, passing legendary Los Angeles Lakers sensation LeBron James for the No. 1 spot. Football undoubtedly dominates the sports world when it comes to being the most marketable sport. When looking at SportsPro’s list, 22 of the top 50 athletes are footballers, and these athletes hold four of the top 10 spots.
On The Footballco Business Podcast, the Editorial Director of SportsPro Media, Michael Long, speaks about Messi’s dominance in market value and how he surpassed the likes of LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen for the top spot.
Michael mentions that many factors come into play and are heavily considered when deciding where athletes are placed on the Most Marketable Athletes list. The popularity of the sport, total addressable market, market value, initiatives, and the like all factor into an athlete’s ranking.
To start, football is widely considered the most global sport. It is the most covered sport in the media and the most talked about. This factor helps in Messi’s global dominance as he competes in a sport that millions of people tune into. The marketability of football is on a level of its own as it supersedes every other sport on a global level.
To overtake LeBron James is a remarkable feat, and the Most Marketable Athletes list could hint towards the fact that the football brand is getting stronger in the U.S. With the global popularity of football, it is impressive that LeBron James secured the second place ranking for the most marketable athlete. The NBA is a U.S.-based sport and does not have as extensive a global reach as football. Despite this, James has surpassed the likes of Megan Rapinoe, Kylian Mbappé, and Novak Djokovic, who all compete in globally dominant sports.
🚨🚨| BREAKING: Lionel Messi has surpassed LeBron James as the most marketable athlete in the world.
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) March 13, 2024
[@SportsPro] pic.twitter.com/ly93PSGyvv
Michael delves into how Messi came out on top of the list through more personal factors. The Argentinian native was featured as No. 1 on the list three years ago and found his way back to the top.
The 36-year-old is widely regarded as a generational talent and the greatest of all time in the world’s most popular sport. The 8-time Ballon d’Or winner was highly ranked in several areas that factor into his ranking.
The Total Marketability Score of an athlete is the sum of three pillars: Total Addressable Market, Athlete Brand Strength, and ECON- Triple Bottom Line.
🚨🚨 @SportsPro’s most marketable athlete ranking of 2023.
— Max Stéph (@maxstephh) March 13, 2024
1- Lionel Messi
2- Lebron James
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16- Lewandowski
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26- Bukayo Saka
27- Cristiano Ronaldo
Bot followers on Instagram really fooled no one 😭 pic.twitter.com/M1YF3ubXKZ
Messi’s Total Addressable Market
A key pillar in which each athlete is scored is the Total Addressable Market (TAM), which factors in an athlete’s overall reach, audience engagement, sport-team awareness, athlete awareness, and sponsor awareness, to name a few. Being a global sensation with over 500 million followers on Instagram alone, Messi excels in all these areas as he is in the top 1-2% of athletes in all these aspects.
The TAM makes up 45% of an athlete’s total marketability score, and when looking at how Messi performs in this pillar, he excels with a ranking of 44.35/45.
Messi’s Athlete Brand Strength
The second key pillar in an athlete’s marketability is the Athlete’s Brand Strength, which comprises 35% of the marketability score. This pillar considers the player’s authenticity, brand risk and reputation, in-sport performance, presentation, purpose, mission, and values.
Throughout his career, Messi has shown public support for various environmental and social causes that play a role in his purpose, mission, and values. The 36-year-old is a UNICEF ambassador. He has the Leo Messi Foundation and works publicly with other initiatives. This all works in his favor as this element aligns with fans and numerous brands.
Additionally, an Athlete’s Brand Strength considers their in-sport performances, and Messi is likely the most outstanding athlete in this regard. The 36-year-old clinched the 2022 FIFA World Cup for his home country, Argentina. He had an impressive and lengthy career at FC Barcelona before moving to Paris Saint-Germain. The Argentinian sensation also became the first football player to receive eight Ballon d’Or trophies in the award’s history.
When analyzing all of these factors in conjunction, Messi receives a ranking of 30.46/35 on his Brand Strength. To put this number into perspective, his rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, has a brand strength of 19.86/35.
Messi’s ECON- Triple Bottom Line
An athlete’s ECON- Triple Bottom Line considers their Athlete Market Value ROI, Social ROI, and Environmental ROO. These aspects all factor into the economics of an athlete by looking at aspects such as the median income of an athlete’s Instagram followers based on their country, an athlete’s Paid Post Performance, and their total in-sport earnings.
When looking at the economic aspect of this generational talent, Messi receives a perfect score of 20/20. As the second-most followed account on Instagram with 501 million followers, Messi has an enormous global reach on the general public and can utilize his platform for the performance of his paid posts. Additionally, being the most marketable athlete, Messi has significant in-sport earnings, which plays a role in his perfect ranking.
Other Key Factors
The 36-year-old quickly returned to the spotlight after taking the media world by storm. The Argentinian sensation sparked a lot of talk throughout the summer about where he would move as there were talks about the Saudi Pro League as they poached many star footballers. Still, as everyone knows, the 36-year-old ended up signing with the MLS.
This move to Inter Miami put Messi’s career back in the spotlight, further improving his brand strength. There was a fear that his career was fading out at Paris Saint-Germain as he was no longer the most-talked-about player in Paris because of the French sensation Kylian Mbappé.
The U.S. sports market is the greatest sports business market on the planet and had yet to awaken to the allure of Messi. Following his move to Inter Miami, many Americans became aware of the Argentinian native despite football being an unpopular sport in the U.S. This career move helped propel Messi to the top of the Most Marketable Athlete list as he joined the most prominent sports business market on the planet in a fast-growing league like the MLS, opening numerous marketing opportunities for the star.
With all the allure that follows the generational talent, all MLS teams increase their ticket prices when Messi is in town, further profiting from his marketability. Even Apple TV+ experienced the Messi effect as it is believed that 2 million users subscribed to the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+ since Messi’s MLS debut.
Brands have taken note of Messi’s effect in the U.S. market, and some companies have chosen to monetize off of the footballer. Messi made his Super Bowl debut in the most-watched U.S. program to exist. He appeared in Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl ad alongside Jason Sudeikis, adding to his enormous advertising reach in the United States and globally.
It will be interesting to see if any athlete can reach Messi’s global star status and have a similar effect on the market as Messi has.
