departure of Lionel Messi from PSG, a limited economic impact for French football

A jewel from a free kick against Lille, a set of assists on the lawn of Saint-Etienne last season… If Lionel Messi’s flashes of genius will be missing from the Ligue 1 spectacle, the economic consequences of the departure of Argentinian, announced by PSG coach Christophe Galtier on Thursday June 1 and made official by the club on Saturday June 3, will have little effect. Nor on the finances of his now ex-club, Paris Saint-Germain. Nor on the finances of the championship. All that remains is reduced bargaining power for television rights on international markets.

Before these two mixed seasons on the sporting level in the capital, the planetary superstar had arrived with great fanfare in the summer of 2021. His arrival had provoked scenes of jubilation at Le Bourget airport, at the Parc des Princes or even in the official PSG stores where waves of fans tore off the tunic of their new number 30. “This is definitely the best jersey launch in terms of sales with at least a 30-40% increase in demand. If we could produce more, we would still be selling more”, declared the sponsorship director of the PSG, Marc Armstrong, on the site Goal.com in December 2021.

If the departure of Messi will affect the club’s merchandising income in the short term, the Parisians will still have no problem taking the hit according to Luc Arrondel, sports economist. “We talked about more than a million flocked jerseys in the name of Messi sold during his first season at PSG, but you should know that the club only receives between 8 and 15% of the selling price per jersey, that remains therefore quite minimal.

A thesis corroborated by Magali Tézenas du Montcel, general manager of the Sporsora association. “In a football club, the budget is based above all on income from sponsors. Merchandising is another pillar, but it remains less important”, explains this sports marketing specialist. According to the latest figures published in the reports of the National Directorate of Management Control (DNCG) of the League, merchandising indeed represents less than 100 million out of the nearly 670 million euros in revenue from PSG. What about sponsorship then? “The rule is simple” according to Luc Arrondel.

“Commercial income depends on the visibility of the club. In other words: the more visible you are, the more you can negotiate your income upwards. The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo had precisely enabled Juventus to upgrade its contracts with Adidas.”

Luc Arrondel, sports economist

at franceinfo: sport

With his over 460 million Instagram followers, ‘Leo’ Messi was therefore a major selling point for PSG, who only have 70 million. During the first week of the 2022 world champion at the club, the Parisian account had even gained 24% more followers. “There is bound to be an impact for the clubjudge Magali Tézenas du Montcel. However, PSG has become such a strong brand, already before Messi. They are safe from a lot of disappointments with sponsors.”

TV rights abroad, the only real issue for Ligue 1

As for the French championship, the famous “Messi effect” hoped for on his arrival never took place. In terms of ticketing, the occupancy rate in France’s stadiums has changed very little, from 92% on PSG receptions during the 2019-2020 season (the last “normal” season before the pandemic during which Messi was not in Ligue 1) to 93.5% in 2022-2023 according to attendances informed by the Professional Football League (LFP). Proof that trips to Paris were already attracting crowds before the signing of the “Pulga”.

“The only real impact that Messi’s departure can have concerns international TV rights. The timing is not very good since they will be renegotiated in the autumn of 2023.”

Magali Tézenas du Montcel, sports marketing specialist

at franceinfo: sport

Currently, the contract held entirely by beIN Sports over the period 2018-2024 – concluded at a time when it seemed unimaginable that the sevenfold Golden Ball would leave Barcelona – brings in 80 million euros per year for the League. Too little for this to significantly increase the budgets of other French clubs.

“We remain the fifth European championship internationally, far from the top 4confirms Luc Arrondel. Given Messi’s popularity in emerging markets, Asian or American, having him in the balance would obviously have been a plus to sell the product.” Particularly in South America, where Ligue 1 had seen renewed interest from Argentinian fans. “However, there are other effective leversnuance the economist. If Mbappé stays, one can imagine that this partly mitigates the effects of Messi’s departure. But good performances by French clubs in the European Cup would be especially useful to promote our championship abroad..

Still struggling last month not to be overtaken by the Netherlands in the UEFA rankings, French football knows the recipe to continue to aim for the objective displayed by Vincent Labrune of a French championship valued at 1.8 billion euros by 2028.