Lionel Messi is used to breaking all kinds of records on the field, but he has now set a new record off the ground.
His presence to PSG club has driven shirt sales to an all-time high; for the first time, PSG sold more than 1,000,000 shirts last season. Messi's # 30 shirt contributed for more than 60% of all sales.
That incredible number is a first for any player in the sport, demonstrating his celebrity pull power in the stores once again.
Messi's long-term competitor Cristiano Ronaldo was moving ahead in shirt sales after a spectacular move to Manchester United last summer.
By September, Portuguese Star Ronaldo's replica shirt sales had earned United an eye-watering £187 million, however Messi's shirt sales grown steadily the rankings and ultimately surpassed the Portuguese.
Lionel Messi's shirt accounted for 60% of PSG's total shirt sales last season.
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) June 24, 2022
The club also received 10 new sponsorship contracts due to Messi's arrival.
(via Sport)
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Manchester Utd are also no longer the team with the most jersey sales, while PSG has now ranking top at the table.
Within hours of the news that Lionel Messi was quitting Barcelona for PSG, shirt sales earned about €1 million.
To meet the high demand, the French champs had to relocate their official outlet to Paris' famous shopper's paradise, the Champs-Elysees. They also increased their service zone in order to move quite so many shirts as feasible.
Marc Armstrong, Paris Saint-Germain's chief partnerships executive, told Marca, "Demand has risen by 30 - 40%, and the only thing that can slow it down is supply."
When a deal of this size occurs, such as [Cristiano] Ronaldo to [Manchester] United, you may imagine he'll be compensated by selling shirts, but that isn't the fact. You can't make many extra shirts.
PSG sold 832,000 official replica shirts within 24 hours of Lionel Messi joining the club, with sales worth roughly €133million. That’s two new records for Messi; most shirts sold in 24 hours, and highest revenue from club merchandise in 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/FXupq9mH1a
— FootballFunnys (@FootballFunnnys) August 13, 2021
The arrangement is designed to ensure extremely essential minimums, but we are unable to fulfill the demand for Messi shirts. " We've reached our threshold."
"No one can fulfill that demand," he continued. We are already selling a large number of shirts, possibly more than any other club in the world for a single player, and this drives us to the next stage."
We also have enough request for lifestyle products; the Jordan brand generates a lot of income, but the desire increases even more when you add a star player like Lionel Messi.
Michael Jordan has made more money from Messi’s PSG jerseys than the he did during his entire NBA career 😳
— Hamza (@lapulgafreak) August 23, 2021
(@JoePompliano) pic.twitter.com/W07cW8WBy0
Aside from jersey sales, Armstrong stated that the team's social media following was increasing at a rate of £1.4 million each week. Ticket sales and request are also on the rise.
PSG believes it has produced £600 million in income since Messi joined the club.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy