Messi Mania - Which States are Loco about  Lionel’s American Arrival?

Rewind to June 7. After months of speculation regarding his future, global superstar Lionel Messi announces he will join MLS franchise Inter Miami on a free transfer from Paris St-Germain. 

In a move that broke the internet, Messi will be the new poster boy of American soccer, and the "Messi mania" went into full force. Fans across the world flooded social media to air their thoughts on the move and follow his new club’s official accounts, and the numbers reported are staggering. 

Inter Miami's Instagram followers have increased by 750% since the Ballon d’Or Winner confirmed the announcement. Before June 7, the club had 1 million followers on Instagram. Now, it has over 8.5 million, which means that no other NFL, MLB, or NHL team can boast these numbers on social media. 

To add to this, Messi’s expected debut for Inter Miami against Mexican team Cruz Azul in the opener of the inaugural Leagues Cup Tournament has been priced at $307, revealed by Gambling.com. The match will be played at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; few could argue it is the hottest ticket in town! 

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that Inter Miami, co-owned by soccer legend David Beckham, is currently reaping the commercial benefits of the mega signing, and this is likely to continue through the duration of the Argentinian’s stay in Miami. But one question remains unanswered: Where does Messi have the most interest in the U.S., and therefore, has he decided to join the right club? 

All that considered, the research team at Gambling.com decided to work out which states are most interested in Lionel Messi. 

They analyzed Google Trends data across all 50 states for the top Messi-related search terms and compiled a List of the Top 10 states most and least interested in Lionel Messi. 

What States are Most Interested in Lionel Messi? 

The study discovered New Jersey, by a landslide, is the most interested state in Messi, with a final score of 97.1. Should he have joined the New York Red Bulls instead? 

California, home to MLS teams LA Galaxy, Los Angeles FC, and the San Jose Earthquakes, took second place with a final score of 82.2, while Inter Miami’s home state of Florida took third place. 

Texas and New York made the Top 5 with final scored 75.3 and 72.8, respectively. 

Now we know which states are most interested in Messi; it makes sense to find out which states are least interested in the superstar. 

Gambling.com can reveal that Wyoming is the least interested state in Messi, with a final score of 18.6. 

Not far behind is South Dakota, while neighbors in North Dakota are in third place with 19.8 and a final score of 24.5. Perhaps these states are fans of Messi’s arch-rival, Cristiano Ronaldo? 

Whether Messi has made the best choice for his next adventure remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Inter Miami and the MLS are the clear winners here. The eyes of the U.S. and the world will be on Florida on July 21, when he makes his hotly anticipated debut in America, and the revenue streams will undoubtedly look very healthy for the remainder of 2023 and beyond. 

Methodology

To work out the States Most Interested in Lionel Messi, Gambling.com did the following:

• Located data regarding the top 10 related search terms for Lionel Messi. 
• Keywords used in the study: “Messi,” “Lionel Messi,” “Messi net worth,” “Messi jersey,” “Messi World Cup,” “Messi wife,” “Messi age,” “Messi height,” “Messi career stats” and “Messi vs. Ronaldo.” 
• Analyzed Google data for each keyword across all 50 states and compiled data on the Trends Score for each.
• An overall average total score was calculated for each state. 

All states were then ranked from top to bottom for an overall Top 10 of the most interested and least interested states in Lionel Messi.

All data was collected on July 7, 2023.

Data sources: Google Trends and Semrush.