Soccer star and Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi has been named the most marketable athlete on the planet by SportSpro media ahead of his rivals Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé. Since Messi moved to Major League Soccer (MLS) his football career reached a new trajectory and celebrity stardom.
One thing that has always been true of Messi, though, is that he represents a relatively risk-free investment for brands. Regarded as a family man, the ten-time LaLiga champion tends to stay away from controversy on and off the field and has always been primarily focused on the game, reads SportsPro.
“He’s a throwback, in many ways,” says Singh, who is currently vice president of content and comms at the MKTG sports marketing agency. “He didn’t find fame becoming a cultural phenomenon or a personality outside of football. It’s always been about what he delivers on the pitch. He’s not known for being really outspoken. He’s not known for being a larger-than-life personality. He’s just relentlessly good at football.”
Marketing experts consider Messi a safe bet for brands as controversy doesn’t follow him around: “Yet this doesn’t imply that he tries to steer clear of risk and controversy,” explains Tom Malkin of NorthStar Solutions Group, the exclusive data and analytics partner of 50MM.
“Rather, Messi’s strong personal attributes and family values extend to every aspect of his life, which means that he doesn’t have to think about whether his actions will ever be controversial or reputationally harmful, for he is the epitome of the global role model.”
Messi is a global star and well respected across the world by football fans and his peers: “The appeal of Lionel Messi from a global brand’s point of view is that there isn’t a market in the world where Messi is not relevant, where he doesn’t have a really receptive fanbase,” says Amar Singh, who was Budweiser’s head of football content and strategy when the company partnered with Messi.
“When you’re working on a global brand, you’re looking for players that you can activate in all different continents,” he continues. “When it comes to Messi, you don’t have to worry that your brand manager in China, India or the US is going to say he’s not as relevant as someone else – he’s the greatest footballer of all time and has a huge following everywhere.”
