Lionel Messi’s departure from PSG will create a great impact on the Parisian team’s revenue before the 2023/24 season.
PSG have made good use of the image of the Argentine superstar to increase revenue in the past 2 years. Therefore, Messi’s departure from the team after the 2022/23 season is over is a difficult problem for the heads of the Paris capital club. French media predicts that the revenue of the Parc des Princes team will certainly be heavily affected.
Economic damage
When Messi leaves Barcelona in 2021, the Tourism Council of Catalonia estimates a 15-20% drop in visitors to the city of Barcelona. RMC Sport predicts a similar situation may happen in Paris this summer, when the former Barca star ends his contract with PSG.
This also entails that the revenue of restaurants near the Parc des Princes also declines. RMC Sport statistics that the number of customers who are PSG fans accounts for 30-40% of the annual revenue of these restaurants. After the Covid-19 pandemic was brought under control in France, the demand for fans to come to Paris to watch Messi play increased.
Besides, PSG will also suffer heavy consequences from shirt sales. After the 2022 World Cup, L’Equipe revealed that the number of jerseys of the Paris capital club has tripled. Messi and Kylian Mbappe’s jerseys are the most sought after at PSG stores and online.
Previously, Marca said that after only half of the 2021/22 season, PSG achieved 41 million euros in revenue from shirt sales, equal to the team’s revenue for the whole 2020/21 season. For the first time in history, more than 1 million PSG shirts have been sold. It should be known that, 60% of which belongs to Messi’s number 30.
Marc Armstrong, PSG’s director of business, once revealed that Messi’s presence brought the French team 11 new sponsorship contracts. French media estimate these deals bring PSG about 310 million euros. After the 2021/22 season, PSG also recorded a revenue of 700 million euros, a club record. The remarkable increase of PSG this season clearly has a big impact from Messi. Therefore, PSG faces the risk of being turned away by sponsors if they say goodbye to M10.
PSG’s season ticket sales could also be in trouble. Previously, the Paris team was always in a state of sold-out tickets. Online orders also increased many times compared to the time before the M10 joined. Currently, the wave of protests against the leadership and superstars at PSG is increasing day by day. Images of empty stands at the Parc des Princes may appear in the 2023/24 season.
PSG lost its charm
According to calculations, Messi helps PSG increase 30% of followers on many social networking platforms since joining the team in 2021. Previously, the Paris capital club’s Instagram account had just over 38 million followers. Currently, this number stands at more than 70 million people.
Messi’s number of followers on social media stands at 458 million, the highest among PSG players and four times higher than Mbappe (103 million). If M10 leaves, it is clear that PSG will lose a powerful “weapon” to promote the team’s image globally.
“There will be heavy consequences for PSG”, RMC Sport commented. Of course, the leaders of PSG can anticipate the risk of accepting the team’s top star to leave.
With PSG, money has never been what this team is aiming for. Fame and desire to rise in the new continental cup are the goals of Qatari owners. But it’s time for PSG to accept that they have failed with the “project” Messi. Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s anger at the M10 was like a drop of water, ending the cooperative relationship between the two sides. Right now, PSG needs to build a new, more methodical plan without the name of the Argentine superstar.