The Impact Of Messi On Real Estate Development In The United States

In my opinion, Lionel Messi’s arrival has significantly boosted both soccer development and real estate business. This impact is likely much more significant in the state of Florida.

These two aspects have been steadily growing for quite some time.

Primarily, real estate developments in Florida, specifically in the Miami area, have seen significant growth in recent years, both in the commercial and residential sectors. Unlike previous times when this growth was driven by foreign investors, since the pandemic, this growth has been propelled by American investors from other states (primarily New York and California), who have found Florida not only beneficial due to its tax rates but also pleasant to live in.

As for soccer, this sport has been growing considerably in the last 10 or 15 years, but perhaps much more in the amateur than professional realm. The MLS did not have a significant boost in the past; however, recreational or semi-professional academies have been growing exponentially across the United States, along with collegiate soccer, originally driven by the female audience but later by an influx of foreigners who could access athletic scholarships to study at these universities.

These two seemingly different worlds, soccer and real estate, intersect thanks to Messi’s arrival.

Major MLS clubs are investing significant sums in acquiring new players to match Lionel Messi’s quality of play, and on the other hand, the huge influx of new spectators attending matches has led to an increase in ticket prices and revealed the lack of good soccer stadium infrastructure.

Major exhibition matches must be held in American football stadiums due to their larger capacity. Most of these matches have full attendance capacity thanks to Messi’s participation in them.

As a result, several MLS participating clubs are planning extremely important investments to improve and expand their stadiums.

One of the major problems for soccer academies (which do not have the large funds of professional clubs) is access to training space and, of course, room to grow.

The cost, whether for property purchase or rent for soccer grounds, has grown exponentially in recent years.

Soccer academies have grown both in the number of students (much of which is due to the Messi effect) and the emergence of new academies (many of them affiliated with professional clubs from other countries, mainly from Latin America, as European clubs have had semi-professional academies in the USA for several years).

Major established academies are expanding their infrastructure and branching out from their original cities by forming alliances with other cities to gain access to public grounds in exchange for significant infrastructure investments.

We also see the case of football associations like the Argentine Football Association (AFA), the current world champion, announcing a huge investment in the United States initially in the cities of North Bay Village and Hialeah, developing high-performance centers and semi-professional soccer academies there.

In summary, none of these processes are a direct consequence of the Messi effect, as significant growth had already been occurring, considering that the US is hosting the Copa America this year and the World Cup in 2026. However, it is clear that the Messi effect accelerated and consolidated decisions that had been developing in recent years.