CHENNAI: Lionel Messi's exit from Barcelona last year hasn't had any impact on La Liga's viewership on social media in India, La Liga India managing director Jose Antonio Cachaza said during a virtual media interaction.
In fact, La Liga has been able to increase the fan following on social media by 2000%, going from 300,000 when LaLiga started working in the country back in 2016 to 6,400,000+ in 2022. Cachaza said that La Liga has been counting the positives.
"When it comes to the league's popularity on social media, Messi's departure has had no impact. In terms of television viewership, we cannot really say because we are changing the way we count. Overall, the figures are good. So even if there was an effect, it wasn't radical," Cachaza replied to a TOI query.
"One of our biggest assets is FC Barcelona, and they have not been doing too many exciting things since the beginning of the season. So it's not only about Leo Messi leaving as there are still some adjustments being done," he added.
Cachaza elaborated that La Liga is looking to contribute towards improving grassroots football in the country.
"As we celebrate five years of being in India, we want to thank our fans and partners in the country for having helped us achieve so much more than we imagined. The 2000% growth in social audience is an exciting number, but a big outcome cannot be measured – how we have deepened our connection with local fans. For the future, we are looking forward to making more meaningful contributions towards improving grassroots football in the country and delivering the best possible experience for the Indian football fans," he said.
