Messi’s dream Inter Miami debut was the perfect TV event for Apple

It is both a challenge and an opportunity for MLS and Apple: How do you make every Lionel Messi game on MLS Season Pass feel like an event?

Well, if he scores the game-winning goal in the dying seconds of regulation, on a glorious free kick, in his debut game for Inter Miami, delivering one of the most memorable moments in American soccer history, a moment that caused Inter Miami owner David Beckham to shake his head in disbelief and a Florida crowd to erupt in ecstasy — well, that’s an event.

“It is Messi’s moment,” said MLS broadcaster Jake Zivin after the goal. “It is Messi’s night.”

In some cases, making something an event is easy for sports broadcast outlets. There are certain dates on the calendar (Super Bowl, World Cup, March Madness, college football title game) that are events simply by existing. There are also annual one-offs such as the Kentucky Derby, the opening round of the NFL Draft, or even WrestleMania that have a can’t-miss element to them. On a smaller level, ESPN’s Formula One coverage via Sky Sports has done a great job making every F1 race day feel like something special. (Sky Sports F1 broadcaster Martin Brundle’s pre-race grid walk, as silly as it can be, gives the event a big feel.)

So that’s what I was looking for as I tuned into MLS Season Pass at 7 p.m. ET, one hour before the Leagues Cup match between Inter Miami and Cruz Azul. How would MLS/Apple approach its pregame show? Would they have a group onsite to give us a feel of the atmosphere similar to what Amazon Prime did for “Thursday Night Football” and NFL and NBA networks have traditionally done for big postseason games?

The answer was yes. Host Kaylyn Kyle and analysts Maurice Edu and Taylor Twellman were live from the corner of the pitch of DRV PNK Stadium as the pink-happy crowd started to float in. The group interviewed MLS commissioner Don Garber and Liga MX president Mikel Arriola within the first five minutes, and far more important for viewers, we got Starting XI graphics and substitutes for both teams within the first 10 minutes. They also didn’t overload viewers simply on Inter Miami as reporter Katie Witham interviewed Cruz Azul goalkeeper Sebastián Jurado on the field.

We got plenty of boldfaced names on the broadcast (Kim Kardashian and kids posing with Inter Miami owner David Beckham; Victoria Beckham taking a photo of her husband and LeBron James; Witham interviewing Kardashian). We also got Twellman hyping the moment with the flair of WWE wrestling manager Paul Heyman. “Inter Miami pulled off the greatest heist in sports history,” said Twellman, who deserves some Apple stock for that hype job.

Twellman said prior to Friday that calling Messi’s first MLS game would end up being one of the highlights of his broadcasting career. Said Twellman: “I grew up in a family where Pelé and the NASL was a huge part of my dad’s professional life and his career, and now I get to have a similar type of experience with arguably the greatest player ever and maybe a better player and his impact on what’s going to go on in this league.”

The pregame had to stretch because Messi did not appear on the field prior to the game. (I was hoping for something like this.) There were some glitches, including going to break while Kyle was in mid-sentence at 7:52 p.m. ET. Viewers got breaks at 7:55 and 7:58 p.m. ET, and breaks that tight are very disorienting as a viewer. (Watching in Canada, I don’t get the U.S. ads.) Someone was overheard on a mic as Twellman was talking prior to kick. They have to clean that stuff up if they want to be compared to the best in class of sports broadcasting.

MLS said its game coverage featured an enhanced production, including 18 cameras, four super slow-motion cameras, a Skycam, a Steadicam and a drone. As is the case with MLS League Pass, viewers could choose between coverage in Spanish and English. Zivin and Twellman called the game in English and will also call Inter Miami against Atlanta United on Tuesday. Sammy Sadovnik, Eduardo Biscayart, Carlos Hermosillo and Antonella Gonzalez called the game in Spanish.

As viewers, we first saw Messi on the Inter Miami bench at 8:05 p.m. ET, sitting next to Sergio Busquets. There was nice imagery of LeBron in an extended hug with Messi. (You’ll see that video around the world, which is priceless for MLS and Apple in terms of pub.) Zivin balanced the debut of Messi and the responsibilities of calling the game nicely. (For someone who does not know much about Cruz Azul, Zivin helped educate me on the club, including the success of manager Ricardo Ferretti.)

Twellman has a deep knowledge and respect of MLS, and that’s what you should want if you are a fan of the league. The director and producer frequently went to shots of Messi, which is what I wanted as a viewer. I imagine some will call it excessive, but I don’t think that can be the case with Messi. There were some audio glitches in-game, which, again, MLS/Apple need to fix.

Twellman said he wanted to get out of the way and give viewers the experience of feeling what he felt inside the stadium.

“I think this being a global audience versus a United States or Canada audience, I need to make sure that people understand how important this is for the league,” Twellman said. “But I would be stunned if the audio and video doesn’t tell that story of the magnitude, the environment, and the occasion.”

Messi began warming up as the second half started and put on his Inter Miami jersey at 9:27 p.m. ET. He came on in the 54th minute. The cameras stayed with him as he entered the pitch, and Zivin and Twellman smartly stayed silent as the public address announcer gave a special introduction for Messi and Busquets to the crowd. Twellman predicted in the first half we would see Messi for 20 minutes given where he was in his training, but he went much longer.

Apple kept feeding us celebrities (Serena Williams talking with Kardashian), and while I’d be happy never to read about the Kardashians again, this was smart to me because the goal was to make the broadcast feel bigger. (Plus, Serena is a legit GOAT.) There was a beautiful ball from Busquets to Messi late that we needed to get at least one full replay on. Then came the dream moment with Messi’s free-kick winner. Hollywood in Miami.

The pregame group then did a live postgame, where we got multiple looks at the Messi goal.

The Messi signing is obviously massive for the league, and massive business, as The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio, Pablo Maurer and Tom Bogert have chronicled here. Twellman said it is vital that Inter Miami is successful in order to capitalize on Messi being in the league. They are currently in last place in the Eastern Conference of MLS. But that should change.

“If you want to be the face of Major League Soccer for the two and a half to three years that he’s going to be here, and then ultimately for the years later, you’ve got to win,” Twellman said. “You’ve got to create your legacy and create a foundation for success.”

So Messi Night 1 is in the books. It wasn’t perfect (we could hear over the air that Apple was only getting one question after the game), but Apple and MLS did well. It felt big, and Messi made it even bigger at the end.

“I got goosebumps, because for the next 50 years of my life,” Twellman said on the air, “I’m going to tell everyone I was in the building.”

(Photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)