Lionel Messi’s effect on Inter Miami is already huge. Here are the numbers to prove it

There was little doubt Argentine icon Lionel Messi would be a transformational player for Inter Miami when he joined the club. Two weeks after stepping off a private jet in Fort Lauderdale to begin this still-hard-to-believe chapter of his career, there is hard evidence he has had a seismic effect on the club and Major League Soccer.

Not only has he scored three goals in his first 114 minutes, including a dramatic, game-winning, curling free kick in the waning seconds against Cruz Azul and a pair of goals in a 4-0 rout of Atlanta United, he has spread the club and league brands around the world.

Here are some numbers:

A video clip of Messi’s free kick goal was the most engaged post ever for @MLS across all social media platforms, reaching 140 million fans and combining for 6 million engagements.

Since Messi (who has 480 million Instagram followers) joined Inter Miami, the club’s Instagram account has grown from 1 million to 12.4 million, which is more than all NFL, Major League Baseball and NHL teams. The only three U.S. pro sports teams with bigger followings are the Golden State Warriors (31.1 million), L.A. Lakers (23 million) and Cleveland Cavaliers (16 million).

By comparison, the Miami Heat have 6.6 million, Dolphins 1.5, Marlins 684,000 and Panthers 389,000.

Apple TV ratings are not available for their broadcast of Messi’s two games in 100-plus countries around the world, but an average viewership of 1.75 million people tuned in on Televisa/Univision for his debut, making it the most-watched MLS telecast in Spanish in history. An audience of 4.08 million unique viewers tuned in for at least one minute of the telecast, and 2.71 million were watching during his free kick.

The top U.S. markets for the Univision broadcast of that game were: Los Angeles (240,000 viewers), New York (165,000) and Miami (139,000). The total viewership of the game was 42 percent higher than the Spanish-language broadcast of the Champions League final this year.

“Messi” trended on Twitter throughout the weekend and was ranked in the top 10 worldwide for 42 consecutive hours, from 9 p.m. July 21 to 3 p.m. July 23.

Messi’s free kick against Cruz Azul was the No. 1 play on ESPN “SportsCenter,” and his two goals against Atlanta also were featured prominently.

Podcast: Messi’s debut has quickly had a major impact. How high will Inter Miami rise?

On an interview last week with Fox Business, Rupert Campbell, the president of Adidas North America, said: “(Messi) Merchandise sales are absolutely unprecedented. Since his announcement, sales have increased dramatically. We are doing our best to meet the demands, to get as many shirts to fans as we can.”

He said Adidas, which has a lifetime partnership with Messi, opened a pop-up store in Miami Beach three weeks ago, and he saw a customer buy 20 shirts at once. Adidas welcomed the Argentine star to South Florida with a Messi/Inter Miami-branded cargo ship, cigarette boats and helicopter at the Port of Miami on July 19.

Apple, which signed a $2.5 billion, 10-year broadcast partnership with MLS, is also benefiting from Messi’s arrival. Although the company has not revealed subscription data for its MLS Season Pass streaming service, Sports Business Journal, citing industry sources, reported this week that subscriptions had surpassed 1 million and had increased by 300,000 since Messi’s announcement on June 7 that he was coming to Inter Miami.

Messi’s first two games have attracted an unusual number of celebrities, including LeBron James, Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian, Gloria Estefan and Camila Cabello. As they post on social media to their millions of followers, the Inter Miami and MLS brands grow exponentially.

On the field, Messi has already helped catapult the last-place MLS team to the knockout rounds of the Leagues Cup with his field vision, brilliant passing, and calm decision making, which have elevated the play of his teammates.

Inter Miami advanced to the Round of 32 and plays its next game Wednesday night at home at DRV PNK Stadium against the winner of the Orlando City vs Santos Laguna game Saturday.

Messi and his former FC Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, who also joined Inter Miami this summer, have stayed after practice regularly to mentor younger players. A third former teammate, left back Jordi Alba, is awaiting his visa and expected to join the team next week. Although Messi has been with the team just two weeks, he was awarded the captain’s armband.

To a man, teammates have been impressed with Messi’s humility. He spent his entire career surrounded by world-class players at Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and the Argentine national team, but Messi seems perfectly at home with his relatively unknown Miami teammates. They say the same can be said for Busquets.

“To be honest, I think that boils down to their character,” said defender DeAndre Yedlin, who gave up the captain’s armband so Messi could wear it. “They’ve come in and they haven’t boasted or been like, `Oh, we’re the big guys here or anything like that. They’ve tried to meld right into the group.

“They eat the same things we eat and train the same way we train and use the same trainers that we use. There’s nothing different. So, we really feel like they’re a part of the group, one of us. And I think that helps us.”

Yedlin revealed that Messi gifted all the players pink and black Beats by Dre headphones after his debut game.

Inter Miami is advertising tickets for the Wednesday game with a message that reads: “Don’t Miss the New Era of Inter Miami.”

Time will tell what the Messi-anic Era will bring, whether he can lead the team to five more wins to clinch the Leagues Cup, whether he can lead Inter Miami to two more wins to hoist the U.S. Open Cup, and whether he and his inspired, energized team can climb out of last place in the Eastern Conference to make an MLS playoff run.

One thing is certain, this is a New Era for the men in pink and black, and the world is watching.