CBS star Jenny Chiu says Messi will have a bigger impact than Pele and Beckham with MLS arrival

Lionel Messi won’t be the first global superstar to play in the US, but he will be the biggest, according to CBS Sports’ Jenny Chiu.

Messi is expected to join MLS’ Inter Miami later this summer after leaving PSG and turning down offers from Saudi Arabia and former club Barcelona.

And while he will follow in the footsteps of Pele and David Beckham in playing Stateside, Chiu believes his impact will overshadow that of previous blockbuster arrivals in America.

“When we talk about Messi, the time we are in now, this digital landscape that we have – people who came to see Pele had heard of the name, but had never seen him,” Chiu said during the Sports Road Show from DailyMail.com. Tuesday in New York City.

“They didn’t really know what they were going to sign up for. Now we are in a place where everyone has seen Lionel Messi.’

Messi will move to Inter Miami with a lot in the tank after his World Cup victory

Messi (left) follows in the footsteps of Inter Miami owner David Beckham (center)

‘That makes the impact so much bigger. Because the hunger for it is so much more. I’ve covered a lot of important games in my life, but I’d pay crazy amounts to watch Lionel Messi.’

“While we thank those who have come before, and we thank Pele for being able to fill stadiums and David Beckham for coming to the United States and MLS in particular… Lionel Messi is on another level. This is the biggest superstar in the world.’

While Pele sold out stadiums with the New York Cosmos in the 1970s, the sport’s popularity waned somewhat afterward before picking up again in the 1980s.

Chiu thinks the league will be well positioned to sustain success after Messi’s presumed two or three years in Miami are over.

“Now that Messi is coming, others will want to come,” the “Morning Footy” host and reporter said the same week Sergio Busquets was also linked with a move to Miami. “He wants his teammates, he wants his people to be next to him.”

Plus, she added, “Miami isn’t a hard sell.”

While MLS viewers are expected to flock to the Argentinian star’s arrival, eyes will also be on this summer’s U.S. women as they attempt to win a third consecutive World Cup.

The Americans enter the tournament as one of the favourites, but injuries to captain Becky Sauerbrunn and Catarina Macario have stripped the roster of key players.

DailyMail.com’s Steven Fletcher is seen on stage with DailyMail.com’s Chiu, Ray Katz and Kate McGreavy

Chiu is excited to watch the Women’s World Cup unfold as the US looks for a three-peat

Becky Sauerbrunn will miss the World Cup for the USWNT after sustaining a foot injury in April

‘It’s going to be hard. England have really shown they are dominant too,” Chiu said, also naming France and Spain as contenders.

Chiu, a former youth player of the Mexico women’s national team, is unsure who will win in Australia and New Zealand.

But with ticket sales already exceeding a million – and NWSL attendance in the US also rising – she expects the tournament to be a hit.

“The viewers are here. You go to these games, all these women’s games… in LA [Angel City FC] they are sold out and they don’t even win. Gotham is sold out.

“It’s record-breaking, record-breaking, record-breaking in every city and every country and every team on the women’s side.”