Time magazine honored Lionel Messi as the Best Athlete of the Year thanks to the positive influence he created when he moved to Inter Miami FC and helped the American Professional Football League gain great traction.

On December 6, Argentine football star Lionel Messi was honored by the US Time magazine as the Best Athlete of 2023.

This milestone not only makes Messi the first male soccer player in history to be honored by Time magazine, but also the first non-American athlete to be honored by a prestigious world-class newspaper. this project.

Time magazine assessed: “Lionel Messi this year has done what seemed impossible before when he signed with Inter Miami, which is to turn America into a nation of football fans.”

This is thanks to the positive influence that the 36-year-old player created after moving to Inter Miami FC and helping the American Professional Soccer League (MLS) create great appeal to fans.

The 36-year-old moved from Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami in July and quickly established himself as one of the biggest icons in American sport.

Messi marked his debut by scoring from a stunning free kick in the final minutes of the match to give his parent club a 2-1 victory.

Messi is the first male soccer player to be named Athlete of the Year by Time. (Photo: Getty Images)

With the biggest signing in history and a world champion in their squad, Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup – their first major title – by defeating Nashville in a final in which Messi scored.

The Argentina international scored 11 goals in 14 matches in all competitions to end the season.

Not only did he create a breakthrough impact on Inter Miami in particular and MLS in general, Messi also helped change public perception of soccer in the US, which was considered “inferior” compared to other sports. other sports like basketball or rugby.

On the day Messi debuted at Inter Miami, Apple TV added 110,000 new subscribers in the US for MLS Season Pass – a digital television service that exclusively broadcasts all MLS matches.

This represents an increase of 1,700% and is the largest increase ever seen in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Europe.

In addition, Inter Miami has also seen revenue increase to a record level of 120 million USD in 2023 (by the end of November 2023), more than double compared to last year and is currently planning to surpass this figure. amount of 200 million USD.

With the influence of Messi at his peak and the US considered a candidate to win the 2026 World Cup held at home, the country’s men’s soccer team is expected to perform well against the strongest opponents. world.

Last October, Messi won the Ballon d’Or for the 8th time after leading Argentina to win the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Not only did he set a record for the number of times he won this title. Messi also became the first player in history to win the Golden Ball while playing outside of Europe, and also helped MLS have a representative win the Golden Ball title for the first time.

Inter Miami players channel Messi after winning the Leagues Cup Final. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

On November 10, Inter Miami hosted the Noche d’Or, a friendly match honoring Messi for winning his eighth Ballon d’Or.

Messi walked onto the field in Fort Lauderdale, raised his trophy in front of an adoring crowd and shared: “What I want to say to the fans is the same as what I said when I came here. We will have very good times. We will compete to continue to raise titles and have fun.”

Time magazine has presented its annual Person of the Year award since 1927, with past winners including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pope John XXIII, Richard Nixon, Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg.

But Time’s Athlete of the Year award has only been awarded since 2019. This award was first given to the US Women’s Soccer Team after players like Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe took home the championship. won the Women’s World Cup for the fourth time.

NBA legend LeBron James, gymnast Simone Biles and baseball star Aaron Judge also won the award./.