Lionel Messi at Inter Miami in the American League as an example: American sports depend on veteran stars

If you want to see Inter Miami, you want to see Lionel Messi. Aging stars is not just a phenomenon in American football. Why and how do they remain so valuable for so long?

DrDetermining the exact value of the best footballer in the world is not an easy task. Of course, you can add up his annual salary and the total sales from his advertising contracts and use them as a guide: an amount that exceeds the 150 million euros per year that Lionel Messi last earned in Paris, according to expert estimates.

You can also count his reach on social media, where the Argentine magician now provides 501 million Instagram subscribers with photos and SMS.

However, you can also see how far the 36-year-old has come in the attention economy through a less obvious but no less dramatic effect. This became clear after his last match with Inter Miami in mid-March. He suffered a groin strain in the match against Nashville and was substituted in the 50th minute. His coach Tata Martino revealed to reporters afterwards that he had hoped the midfield manager would “hold on a little longer”. But he felt that the injury was very serious. “So we preferred to take him out of the match.”