Surprising the USA, Lionel Messi surpassed LeBron James in an important ranking

Lionel Messi continues to make history. The Argentine star revolutionized the entire United States with his arrival at Inter Miami and became the most attractive athlete in a country in which the NBA, NFL and even MLB are far above the MLS in popularity. Although the impact is measured by simply looking at the demand for t-shirts, tickets and thousands of subscriptions to Apple's MLS Season Pass, now other data confirms that Leo in Las Garzas marks a before and after.

In the last few hours, the SportsPro portal placed the best player in the world as the most marketable figure of 2023. This top almost always has the presence of American athletes, but Leo and Neymar have been the exceptions that have led the ranking in more than one occasion since 2010. This year, Messi prevailed above the rest with a score of 94.81 out of 100 and surpassed LeBron James himself, living legend of the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. Alex Morgan, meanwhile, took third place and completed the podium.

The furor over the top winner of the Ballon d'Or in the USA is total. Everyone was delighted with what he did from day one at Inter Miami and his shirt became the most coveted in an entire country. In fact, Adidas had to come out to warn that they would have delays of up to two months to deliver the reserves of jackets with the Rosario's last name.

LeBron James attended Messi's debut at Inter Miami

Precisely, the leaders of the ranking in 2023 have a great relationship with each other. The two had already been seen together when Leo was still playing in Barcelona, but recently the King LeBron attended the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale to witness Messi's debut with the Herons and they both gave each other an affectionate hug just before the opening whistle.