Real Salt Lake was defeated 2-0 by Inter Miami on Wednesday night to begin the MLS season. Lionel Messi, who joined Miami in the summer and skyrocketed MLS income and team valuations, was the center of attention. Messi was involved in both of Miami’s goals, looking to be in peak condition.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner added yet another achievement to his impressive résumé on Sunday when he attained 500 million followers on Instagram. He joins longstanding adversary Cristiano Ronaldo, who is presently valued at 622 million, as the only other person on the planet to reach the half-billion dollar milestone. With 429 million followers, singer and actress Selena Gomez comes in third place, after Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (397 million) and Kylie Jenner (400 million).

Twenty percent of the 2.5 billion monthly active Instagram users currently follow Messi. Brand data platform KORE says he has more followers than all NFL players combined. Additionally, he has more followers than all 154 teams in the five major U.S. sports leagues combined.

Messi has always been well-liked on Instagram due to his global icon status, but during the 2022 World Cup, his photos took off. In an interview, RJ Kraus, head of sponsorship intelligence at KORE, stated, “It was definitely an inflection point for him on social media.” Three of the five most popular posts on the platform in its history were his World Cup posts, including the top one, in which he celebrated Argentina’s victory and received 76 million engagements. In November and December of 2022, he gained 49 million new followers on Instagram, surpassing 400 million followers.

72% of Messi’s Instagram followers are men, and the majority of them are young (85% are under 34). According to KORE, 30% of his fans speak English. Brazil has the most followers (12%), followed by Argentina (6.5%), India (8.1%), and the United States (6.2%).

With $130 million in earnings, including $65 million from sponsors, the 36-year-old Argentine placed third among the 100 highest-paid sportsmen of 2023 according to Sportico. Messi’s career earnings from salaries, incentives, and sponsorships have totaled around $1.4 billion. His 500 million fans will help him maintain his popularity even after he hangs up his cleats, since he will be remembered as the greatest soccer player of all time.

45% of all social media brand value is created, according to KORE’s estimation, based on the 500,000 sports and entertainment accounts they monitor. “Stories and reels are the preferred format for athletes because they are much easier to produce; fans like raw, point-of-view content,” according to Kraus. “And Instagram still reigns supreme in the social media landscape, even in the face of recent challenges from Snapchat and TikTok.”