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- 💵 The Lucrative Business of Inter Miami
💵 The Lucrative Business of Inter Miami
Today we explore the post-retirement career of David Beckham and how Inter Miami have blossomed in value in the first 5 years of operation.
David Beckham is building the best post-retirement career I’ve seen from a British athlete. And with Inter Miami, we have the jewel in his crown.
The below shows the revenue growth of Inter Miami since their first season in the MLS:
2020: $14m
2021: $45m
2022: $56m
2023: $120m
2024: $200m (Estimated Revenue)
If projections hold true and they pull in $200m in revenue this year the Miami-based franchise will be just outside the Top 30 of all clubs globally in terms of revenue.
An MLS club that is just 5 years old pulling in those figures is quite remarkable.
To put things into perspective, the MLS club Nashville SC began playing in the same season that Inter Miami did and pulled in revenue of $46m in 2022.
Inter Miami are already outstripping some of their contemporaries quite comfortably after just a few years in operation and no-one will be able to get close if they do chow down $200m in turnover this year.
What’s more is the growth of their valuation.
The below graph shows how their valuation has changed over time too:
Again, a franchise less than 5 years old being worth over a billion dollars is incredible.
So too is the brand value thats being created with their social following:
16.8m Instagram followers (Most in the MLS)
8.5m TikTok followers (Most in the MLS)
1.2m Twitter followers (2nd most in the MLS)
It took some time to get Inter Miami off the ground but since its inception everything has been up-and-to the right. Beckham and the Inter Miami consortium are quietly building a financial monster and its showing no signs of slowing down.
The original investment consortium was named the Miami United Group and consisted of David Beckham, Simon Fuller, Marcelo Claure, Masayoshi Son, Jorge Mas and Jose Mas.
Since then the ownership structure has seen some evolution.
Beckham bought out Simon Fuller in 2019. Beckham and the Mas brothers then bought out Marcelo Claure and Masayoshi Son shortly after, whilst welcoming PE investment to the tune of $150m from US-based PE house Ares Management at the same time.
Interestingly, Ares have since added to their initial sum by another $75m.
It is unclear as to the current percentage splits of the ownership group now but the four parties involved are:
David Beckham
Jorge Mas
Jose Mas
Ares
Their plans for the future are grand.
The first thing they plan to address is their stadium. They currently play in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at a stadium with a capacity of 21,500.
This works well but next year they are moving to Miami Freedom Park, a 25,000 seater stadium in another area of Florida. What’s more is that project is the development is being built on:
131-acres of public land
1,000,000 Sq. Ft (93,000M2 ) of office retail and commercial space
750 hotel rooms
23 acres (9.3 ha) of public soccer fields (in addition to the 10.5-acre stadium)
58 acres (23 ha) of a public park
There’s a real-estate play here for Miami too.
Fans were outraged when Inter Miami doubled the cost of season tickets at this season but… they sold out in record time!
Xavier Asensi Chief Business Officer at Inter Miami declares that commercial revenue will double from $27m to $54m next season too as brands jump at the opportunity to work with them and their growing fanbase.
They signed a multi-year stadium naming rights deal with JP Morgan Chase, they recently added Lowe’s to their roster of partners too citing another multi-year partnership.
The arrival of Messi has changed everything. They have strategically aligned the opening of their new stadium with the final year of his contract.
The question is can they convince Messi to re-sign at the end of the 2025 season?
If not, are these commercials Messi-contingent or have they built enough of a brand to maintain revenues at the levels they are if he’s not there?
We have seen this before with other MLS franchises, they tend to do just fine when Zlatan leaves, Thierry Henry leaves, David Beckham leaves. Neither of these are the scope and size of Messi but the principal remains the same. The show does indeed go on.
Shoutout to Becks. What an amazing career he has had.
See you next week as always.