Yesterday, we marked a historic day for the soccer world. Kylian Mbappe was officially announced as a Real Madrid player. (FINALLY!) The French superstar received a welcome party similar to the one organized for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. However, July 16 also marks another grand unveiling in the beautiful game’s history. Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham celebrated the first anniversary of Lionel Messi‘s arrival in the MLS. This compels us to crunch the numbers of both presentations to determine which one outperformed the other just for fun. 

Beckham took to Instagram and shared a picture of the day Messi’s ceremony happened, where the Manchester United icon is hugging the Argentine. Additionally, he wrote a caption saying, “One year ago today, we unveiled someone. The dream came true.” The Golden Balls added an extra four stories, fervently celebrating the historic arrival of La Pulga in the MLS. Now, let’s come to the numbers.

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami presentation in numbers

Of course, a sold-out crowd came to then-DRV PNK Stadium, now Chase Stadium due to sponsorship reasons. However, the capacity of the Herons’ home ground isn’t more than 21,550. While the exact digit that turned up to watch Messi hasn’t been revealed to this date, one can consider the stadium’s total capacity as the total attendance for his presentation.

However, we know it was broadcasted on various live streams like Apple TV+, YouTube, and Twitch. You would be surprised to know but Beckham revealed that over 3.5 billion viewers witnessed Lione Messi’s Miami presentation. This number can be considered as a world record.

We are not trying to touch the GOAT debate here but Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al Nassr presentation at the 25,000-seater Al Awwal Park had garnered 3 billion views worldwide. The figure is undeniably large, but it pales in comparison to Messi’s unveiling in Miami. But yesterday, we had another remarkable presentation in Europe. So, what are the numbers there then?

Kylian Mbappe’s Real Madrid presentation in numbers

Kylian Mbappe was given a grand welcome from Real Madrid. The last time such an event was done was over 15 years ago when Cristiano Ronaldo switched from Manchester United. While 2009 saw CR7 set a record, so did Mbappe in 2024. The Frenchman’s presentation was held in front of over 85,000 fans in Madrid’s iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Interestingly, those fans who couldn’t grasp the free tickets for the presentation watched the presentation live on Real Madrid’s official streaming service app, ‘RM Play.’ However, Los Blancos haven’t reported the exact number regarding the viewership of yesterday’s event. So we can’t say whether it exceeded Messi’s Inter Miami presentation viewership, or, not.

In conclusion, Mbappe is ahead in the overall attendance, taking advantage of Real Madrid’s world-class stadium. Meanwhile, Messi, for now, remains ahead in the prospect of overall viewership.