A bargain at any price: Messi's $20.5 million salary again easily tops MLS | OneFootball

Messi investment has doubled Inter Miami's value in two years

Lionel Messi's compensation for 2025 -- a little less than $20.5 million before endorsement deals -- not only tops the list released Tuesday by the Major League Soccer Players' Association, but it's also a third higher than runner-up Lorenzo Insigne's deal ($15.4 million) -- and more than double that of teammate Sergio Busquets ($8.8 million), who is third on the list.

MLS hardliners and Messi haters might hyperventilate thinking about the enormous salary Inter Miami CF pays its captain and franchise player in a league with a "salary cap" of just under $6 million in 2025, but they can't deny the impact Messi has had since moving to South Florida in June 2023.

According to an article published at Forbes.com in February (and updated June 10) Club Internacional de Futbol Inter Miami is worth $1.2 billion; Los Angeles FC is the only MLS club worth more ($1.25 billion). That's more than the Miami Marlins ($1.05 billion) and almost as much as the Tampa Bay Rays ($1.25 billion) of Major League Baseball, according to Forbes' 2025 MLB franchise valuations.

What's the point? Inter Miami was valued at less than half that in January 2023 ($583,000, according to Sportico.com). According to Forbes' report in February: "...the 37-year-old Argentine superstar is the financial engine supercharging his club's growth, to a league-leading $180 million in revenues and $50 million in operating income in 2024, according to Forbes estimates."

Oh, and this:

Did the league make exceptions so the Herons could sign Messi (and his former Barcelona teammates Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez? Yes, as it did for the Los Angeles Galaxy when it signed Herons' co-owner David Beckham in 2007. Beckham helped revolutionize the way MLS did business, and the league has enjoyed its greatest success in the nearly two decades since. And, with all due respect to Sir Becks, I expect Messi to have an exponentially greater impact on futbol in America -- especially if, as expected, he dons the Pink in 2026, remaining in the public eye as a soccer ambassador as Los Garzas move into their new home at Miami Freedom Park and the United States co-hosts the World Cup.

The deal that brought David Beckham to Major League Soccer and the Los Angeles Galaxy. He won MLS Cups with the Galaxy in 2011 and 2012; part of his compensation was rights to buy an MLS expansion franchise. That agreement turned into Inter Miami CF, which stunned MLS and the soccer world when it acquired Lionel Messi in 2023. | Matthew Ashton - AMA/GettyImages

Yes, Messi comes at a high cost. But financial returns aside -- and they are considerable -- how can we measure the value of the prestige and global attention the greatest player of all time commands? The 2 1/2-year contract Messi signed in 2023 is worth $150 million, including equity in the club when he retires (the club is negotiating to extend that deal, which ends in December). But the value of having Messi wear the Pink & Black? Priceless!

For a deeper dive into Major League Soccer's business health, see the full Forbes article; Michelle Kaufman reported on the Herons' payroll for the Miami Herald; and for more about how MLS pays its players, see the 2025 MLS Players Association Salary Guide, which includes links to previous years' reports.