Lionel Messi's $20.4M Salary Tops MLS Highest-Paid List; More Than 25 Team Payrolls

Not only does Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi stand as MLS' highest-paid player at $20,446,667.00 in guaranteed compensation for 2024, but that figure is also more than the combined payrolls for 25 of the other 28 teams in the league.

Those figures (as of April 25) are per the MLS Players Association, and ESPN's Jeff Carlisle relayed them on Thursday.

However, as Carlisle noted, Messi stands to make even more money: "The amount reflects just the playing portion of Messi's compensation, with the Argentina star also set to benefit from other revenue streams such as his endorsement deal with Adidas and a revenue sharing agreement with league broadcast partner Apple."

The only teams with higher payrolls than Messi's monetary figure are Toronto FC ($31.41 million), Chicago Fire ($25.13 million) and Nashville SC ($21.4 million). Inter Miami, obviously, is atop the payroll list at $41.68 million.

Messi has clearly been worth the return on investment for Inter Miami, which sits first in the 15-team Eastern Conference with 28 points. Last year, Inter Miami was notably last in the East before Messi's midseason arrival.

In nine matches this year, Messi has scored 10 goals alongside 12 assists. Inter Miami has posted seven wins and two draws in his nine matches. Without him, the team has won just once in five matches alongside two losses and two draws.

Attendance has also ballooned with Messi aboard, as one can imagine. Inter Miami had 12,637 fans per game in 2022 (the lowest in MLS). That attendance has grown to over 21,000 this season.

Understandably, he's also a major draw for the league.

Per Asli Pelit of Sportico, 65,612 showed up to watch visiting Inter Miami play the New England Revolution. A sellout crowd of over 72,000 saw Messi and Inter Miami play Sporting Kansas City earlier this season.

So the impact of one of the sport's greatest-ever superstars stateside hasn't gone unnoticed. That was likely in mind last July when his deal was struck.

Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico noted last July that Messi's total compensation his on par with other top American sports league stars:

"Messi's Miami deal is worth between $50 million and $60 million per year from his salary, signing bonus and equity in the team. It is on par with what the top earners in the NBA and NFL make in salary. Two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic's current deal is worth $55 million a year on average, while 2019 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson is at $52 million."

In essence, Messi has certainly been worth the lofty price ever since arriving to Miami nearly a year ago.