DBasia.news – A year has passed since Lionel Messi made the decision to leave Barcelona and turn over a new leaf with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
Barcelona was forced to take this action as their financial condition has been unhealthy. Of course, only PSG and Manchester City have agreed to the big salary of the winner of the seven Ballon d’Or.
Last season the 35-year-old player went through a process of adaptation to PSG under Mauricio Pochettino. PSG won Ligue 1 but Messi did not perform optimally and PSG was always predicted to be the champion.
The 2022-2023 season has just started but with a new atmosphere along with the arrival of Christophe Galtier as a new coach. Galtier has so far been able to control PSG’s locker room until the trio of front-line stars, Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe play well.
Messi’s quality and experience can improve Barcelona, but La Pulga’s big impact is not only in terms of improving overall team performance, but also a significant impact on PSG’s economy or finances.
As reported by Marca, in just a year PSG can earn €700 million with Messi’s value off the pitch. The impact is divided into two categories, in social media and also in the economy.
PSG Social and Economic Media
The arrival of Messi immediately increased PSG’s followers, with the club gaining over 15 million followers across social media platforms, exceeding 150 million total followers.
According to PSG Business Director, Marc Armstrong, PSG gains 1.4 million followers per week, surpassing 10 million followers on Tik Tok and the club becoming France’s number one most followed on Instagram.
Meanwhile, from an economic perspective, as reported by El Economista, Messi’s transfer has secured 10 new sponsors and the sponsorship deal has increased to around 3 to €8 million.
Some of the sponsors are quite well-known such as Dior, Gorillas, Crypto.com, PlayBetR, GOAT, Snart Good Thins, Volt, Big Cola, Sports Water, and Autohero. PSG’s sponsorship with Nike earns €75 million per year, with the contract expiring in 2032.
With Messi’s big profile coming on as a great Barcelona legend, the increase in jersey sales has also increased last year. PSG sell more than 1 million shirts, earning between 90 and €160 per jersey, and more than 60% of them uses Messi’s name on the back of the jersey.
“Demand has grown between 30% and 40% and all that could slow it down is supply,” Armstrong added.
“When one of these transfers happens, people think it’s paid for by selling shirts, and it’s not like that. You can’t make a lot of extra jerseys.”
“Agreements are made to cover the minimum, which is very important, but you can’t meet all the demand for Messi’s jersey,” he explained.