Miami executive: Messi is the number one athlete in the world, but he sits at one table and another table

October 25th After Inter Miami officially announced that it would renew Lionel Messi’s contract until 2028, Javier Asensi, the club’s commercial president and a key figure in promoting Messi’s joining and contract renewal, accepted an exclusive interview. He analyzed the operation process of this contract extension and its profound impact on the club's future sporting and economic aspects.

Q: What is it like to renew your contract with Messi?

Asensi: Wonderful, wonderful.

Q: You once said that signing Messi doubled the club’s valuation, tripled its revenue, and became a benchmark for jersey sales. This season, Messi has scored 29 goals in 28 games, won the Golden Boot, and is a leading candidate for MVP. What does it mean to extend his contract until 2028?

Asensi: Let’s put it this way, I’m not objective either. Messi is incomparable. Messi sat at a table by himself, and then the rest of the football players, and I dare say all the athletes. If you are lucky enough to be a contemporary of Messi, as we are, the first thing to do is enjoy him.

Secondly, in terms of the impact this has on the club, there are only positives. There are a lot of people who travel, and this happened during the Barcelona days, and the only reason they travel is to watch a Messi football match.

I was born in 1981. The image of Michael Jordan had a huge impact on me. I didn't have the luck to see him play in Chicago, but when he came to Barcelona in 1992, you could see him playing with the "Dream Team." You have the feeling that you either watched him play or you missed the train.

Q: Do you feel the same way about Messi?

Asensi: You are talking about the No. 1 sport in the world, no matter in terms of interest, business, or number of participants. You're talking about the No. 1 guy in the world in the No. 1 sport.

This is, I don’t know how to put it, wonderful. What he signed wasn't a contract extension, he basically wrote a letter to the fans like, hey, I'm fine here and I want to stay. From that moment on, it was a blessing for the club.

Q: The evolution of the business in the past six years has been amazing. If I remember correctly, the club is valued at over $1.2 billion, making it the most valuable club in MLS. How much of this is down to the strategy of having Messi? How does this help you attract large sponsors?

Asensi: The valuation of a club, in addition to being largely subjective, can also be calculated in a scientific way, which is based on the club's turnover. In our case, our turnover is over $200 million. So looking for market ratios, we would be valued at over $2 billion and would certainly be the most valuable asset in the MLS. The multiplier on the last few sales and purchases of MLS assets is more than ten times your turnover, so if your turnover exceeds 200 million, the club is valued at more than 2 billion.

What we sell is not billboards. In other words, this is not a quantitative question, but a qualitative question. We try to create a business platform for companies who want to be our "partners" rather than "sponsors". Under this route, the concept is a bit different.

Q: For example, Royal Caribbean, Tudor, Visa, JPMorgan Chase

Asensi: Obviously, you are selling more than just being associated with a football club. You are selling history on the one hand, and quantifiable influence on the other. But if you build it like we did, you're providing a platform that ultimately generates business for that company.

Q: In other words, as the main partner of Inter Miami, what are they pursuing?

Asensi: What they are pursuing is visibility. What they are pursuing is that when people choose to take a cruise, they will choose Royal Caribbean first over any other company. How can we deliver the message? How can we use data to see how many people come to Miami to actually take a cruise? Every customer, every partner has different needs. For example, Audi hopes that this investment will not be a cost. The purpose of investing is to recoup that investment later. What is the difference between having Messi and not having Messi? That's the difference between day and night. Day and night.

Question: In what sense?

Asensi: We don’t have a brand here like Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid or Manchester United. Our brand is only five or six years old. Granted, owners Jorge Mas, Jose Mas and David Beckham have run the concept of landing in Miami very well. But, obviously, Messi takes you to a whole new level. In terms of ratings, attention, everything.

Q: At the sports level, it is not only Messi, but also thanks to Messi, it is possible to have other top players such as Suarez, Alba, Busquets... Now we have reached a transition moment. How do you plan to fill the void left by the retirements of Alba and Busquets?

Asensi: I think Alba and Busquets are irreplaceable. You have to look for the best option to get results on the pitch. From this point on, it's a question of finding the best players, but it's not a question of fame, it's a question of who is the best fit and can produce results.

Based on that, the athletic department is working hard to bring in the best players, not just at these positions, but across the board to support our captain and win, which ultimately is what he wants and what all of us, owners and fans want.

Q: The critical moment of the 2026 World Cup is coming soon and will be held in the United States. This may be a huge opportunity to bring more exposure and focus on football. How did you respond to this incident?

Asensi: To be honest, I don’t entirely think so. Forgive me for contradicting you on this point. A World Cup, we have just experienced the 2024 America's Cup and the 2025 Club World Cup.

Listen, yes, it's great, the national team will come, they'll play in Mexico, the United States and Canada. We are a professional team in professional leagues in the United States and Canada. I suspect people...well, maybe Adidas will benefit from this, because I don't see anyone going to a national team game and not wearing their jersey and expecting to buy one on the way to the stadium. Maybe it makes more sense to take away a souvenir of the place you are going to. As Jorge Mas said before, when people think of football, they think of Inter Miami. So if you come to the United States, I as a tourist will take away a Messi's Inter Miami jersey as a souvenir. So maybe Adidas can see the impact of the World Cup, but not us.

Obviously, talking about football in this country is positive, but it's not just a matter of talking, it's a matter of understanding, as I told you before.

Well, Beckham, Pele, Cruyff, Messi, Copa America, World Cup, Club World Cup, anything you want, friendlies, everything you want can come here. The question is, what do you do with all this? This is not just from the perspective of a club, but from the perspective of the organization, from the perspective of the professional league, and those in charge should or are better able to answer you. We will stop, the league will stop, we have a New Year's season here, we will stop for the World Cup, but that's it, and I say again, hopefully or maybe Adidas will benefit a lot from this, and we, other than stop playing, I don't know what impact this will have on us.