Yesterday, sports fans witnessed an iconic moment when soccer icon Lionel Messi crossed paths with NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes. Even though their meeting was for a brief few seconds in the Arrowhead stadium hallway, the brief handshake and the exchange of pleasantries between the duo seems to have left an indelible mark on American sports fan’s minds. Both the players’ fanbases are now discovering new things about each other and in this article, we take a deep dive into the financial standings of the two sporting icons.
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For starters, there is a massive difference between the net worth valuation of the duo. As per Celebrity Net Worth, Patrick Mahomes’ net worth is $70 million. Meanwhile, Parade.com reports his counterpart Lionel Messi’s net worth to be a whopping $650 million. One of the main and obvious reasons behind the massive disparity between the duo’s net worth is their career span.
While the KC Chiefs star has been plying his trade in the NFL for the last 6 years, Messi has been ruling the soccer landscape for nearly two decades. Moreover, Patrick Mahomes’ 10-year contract of $450 million is also not worth the salt when compared to the current NFL QB landscape where elite playmakers receive north of $50 million annually. Messi in comparison during his prime had a whopping $674 million deal over 4 years giving a significant boost to his net worth.
Thus on a head-to-head comparison, Lionel Messi has the clear edge by being $580 million richer than Patrick Mahomes. But as the popular adage goes, the devil is in the details. As per Forbes, Lionel Messi ranks second in the world’s highest-paid athletes list. Lionel Messi’s current salary at MLS side Inter Miami is a base salary of $12 million that goes up to $20.4m in guaranteed compensation.
Patrick Mahomes as mentioned above signed a 10-year $450 million deal in 2020 making his annual salary to be $45 million. However, he and KC Chiefs last year reworked the contract making him earn $208.1 million or $58.6 million per annum from 2023-26. Based on the above-mentioned data, it’s easy to infer that Messi has an edge in terms of salary both historically and currently. However, it’s not only in net worth and salary but Messi also beats Mahomes comfortably in other financial income metrics.
Comparing Endorsements, & Real Estate Investments
But this is not all. Thanks to his GOAT status, Messi also gets a cut from Adidas and Apple TV from their MLS season pass subscription sales. Hence Messi’s annual earnings from the MLS go anywhere between $50 million to $60 million. As far as sponsorships are concerned, Messi has a coveted lifelong partnership with Adidas. He is also sponsored by Socios.com, Mastercard, Gatorade, Louis Vuitton, Bitget, Konami, and PepsiCo among others.
As per Forbes, he currently has endorsements worth $65 million with $20 million coming from his Socios deal in 2022. Patrick Mahomes’ current endorsements, meanwhile, scale up to $20 million. The Chiefs QB also has a deal with Adidas. Apart from the shoe manufacturing giant, Mahomes has a lot of local American giants sponsoring him. The likes of Airshare, BioSteel, State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance, Community America Credit Union, Nestle, Oakley, and Subway are all sponsors of Patrick Mahomes.
As far as real estate goes, Messi again has a clean slate over the QB with his impressive luxury property portfolio. From a $7 million villa on Barcelona’s outskirts to an eco house, a mansion in his native of Rosario, a $7.3 million luxury condominium in Saint Isles Beach, Florida to a $10.75 million waterfront mansion in Fort Lauderdale, LM10’s real estate investments are a class apart.
Mahomes meanwhile started his real estate journey in 2018 with his first house being a 1,800-square-foot penthouse near the Arrowhead stadium, worth $350,000 back then. He then made a swanky $1.8 million mansion purchase after winning his Super Bowl. He then ventured into the countryside by purchasing an eight-acre land at an undisclosed fee. Finally comes his off-season luxury villa in Texas which is currently valued at $5.5 million.
Lionel Messi beats Patrick Mahomes when it comes to money and experience. However, it’s unfair to judge the duo based on where they are in their career right now. Still hope’s not lost for Mahomes as he still has a long time to go with a new bumper contract around the corner!
