Lionel Messi played his first game for Inter Miami CF on Friday night, and the contest lived up to the hype. The new star player was able to score the game-winning goal in extra time, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. Messi had arrived, and all eyes were on the world’s most popular athlete once again.
Lionel Messi Responsible For Huge Follower Boost For Inter Miami
.@InterMiamiCF is now the 4th most-followed team in U.S. sports, ahead of every MLB and NFL franchise pic.twitter.com/QV4kgJZwmE
— Sportico (@Sportico) July 24, 2023
The impact was felt by the team’s social media accounts in the same way it was when the Messi news first broke.
Back in early June, Inter Miami had a following of just under 1 million on Instagram, which was about on par with the rest of Major League Soccer as far as popularity on the platform. But the team saw an unbelievable one-day boost on June 5th when it was first reported that Messi would be coming to South Florida. In just 24 hours, the Instagram account rose by nearly 6 million followers, and had over 8 million in about a week’s time.
A gradual growth of followers came next, as the team inched closer to 9 million while the deal with Messi was worked out behind the scenes. But there has been yet another impressive boost since, which has made Inter Miami’s one of the most popular sports accounts in the world.
All Eyes Will Be On Messi In Upcoming Games
Good morning to everyone, *especially* Lionel Messi. pic.twitter.com/yO1aLRiZHe
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 22, 2023
Upon Lionel Messi officially signing his contract on July 15th, there was another influx of interest in the team. Over the following 6 days, Inter’s following rose to over 10.5 million. There was yet another sharp increase on Friday night, as the Instagram account gained well over 1 million followers in the hours following the goal that Messi scored.
At the time of writing, Inter Miami CF has 11.9 million followers on their Instagram page, and the popularity is only growing. We will see if there is any further boost to the follower count as the season progresses for Messi, who will play in his second game with the team tomorrow night against Atlanta.
Nine of the last 12 posts on the team’s IG page feature Messi in some fashion.
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