Lionel Messi has been named Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year for 2023, which he earned after winning the Ballon d’Or for a record-extending eighth time and elevating the sport’s profile in the U.S. with his move to Inter Miami. The 36-year-old Messi “turned the United States into a soccer country,” Time said. “He was the sport’s biggest draw, most popular player, and best ambassador.”
Messi, who earns more than $20 million a season playing for MLS side Inter Miami, won the award ahead of U.S. women’s national team star Megan Rapinoe, New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge and NBA All-Star LeBron James. He was the first men’s soccer player to win the award since it was unveiled in 2019. The accolade comes after a milestone year for Messi, who led Inter Miami to North America’s Leagues Cup triumph and won his record-extending eighth Ballon d’Or.
After leaving Paris Saint-Germain, Messi decided to move to MLS to raise the profile of soccer in the United States, where it has been historically slow to embrace the game. The move reportedly cost Messi around $18 million annually, which will help pay for a new stadium and other improvements to the club’s facilities.
The club will have a home in the soon-to-open Hard Rock Stadium, which can hold about 65,000 people. It will be a tough sell to get fans out to see Messi play in a stadium that is so much smaller than those of other MLS teams. Those franchises — including New England, Charlotte, Seattle, and Chicago — play at stadiums that can fill up to twice as many seats when Messi visits for international matches.
But it will be a rare treat for millions of local fans who may never have seen Messi live. And it will boost Argentine football, suffering through one of its worst periods in recent years. Inflation in the crisis-prone South American nation is nearing 100%, which has hurt wages and reduced buying power for millions of workers. And extreme poverty remains a problem in the country.
