Messi’s Run Sends Inter Miami Leagues Cup Ticket Prices Soaring

Lionel Messi propelled Inter Miami again, scoring a goal and leading his new squad over the Philadelphia Union 4-1 in the semifinals of the Leagues Cup on Tuesday night.

On Saturday, Miami will clash with Nashville SC for the tournament trophy. It will be Miami’s first appearance in a final of any competition in club history.

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But Messi’s impact on the inaugural tournament, a competition involving 29 teams from MLS and 18 from Mexico’s Liga MX, goes far beyond Miami’s on-field success. Since his debut against Cruz Azul in DRV Pink Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, the tournament has seen a surge in ticket sales and ticket prices.

Tuesday’s semifinal against Philadelphia Union was the most expensive Union ticket on record, according to TickPick, an online marketplace for tickets, and prices surpassed all of the NFL’s Eagles ticket prices pre-sold for the 2023 NFL season. The Union said 19,788 people attended the semifinal vs. Miami in Chester, Pa., and that tickets were sold out on its online ticket office within five minutes.

“Demand was like the Eagles being in the Super Bowl, or Phillies in World Series,” said Tim McDermott, the president of the Union, in an email. “We were already sold out for every 2023 MLS regular season game. This night was really an opportunity to shine the light on Subaru Park. The Messi/Miami game helped big time.”

The average ticket price for the Philadelphia Union-Inter Miami semifinal was $481, according to Kyle Zorn, the content strategy lead at TickPick. “In comparison, tickets for the semifinal game between Monterey and Nashville averaged $45,” he said in a phone interview.

The price surge is continuing for the title game in Nashville’s Geodis Park. “For the Leagues Cup Final, the current get-in price is $646,” Zorn said.

TickPick expects tickets to drop to around $500 by Friday afternoon, but prices are still extremely high when compared with Nashville SC’s next home game on Sept. 2, with a get-in price of $30.

On average, the company sold 4.8x more tickets for games that Inter Miami played compared to the average amount of tickets sold per game for the other 67 Leagues Cup matches that took place.

The overall average purchase price for each game that Inter Miami has played is $256, while all other Leagues Cup games have averaged $54.

“Messi is having an immediate impact on the MLS,” said Dave Wakeman, the president of the Wakeman Consulting Group. “These ticket prices are insane, but the real test is not how expensive they are now, but what they end up selling at.”

MLS says over 800,000 fans have attended Leagues Cup matches to date—Inter Miami’s two group stage games at home rank as the most attended matches in club history.

A total of 1.2 million fans have attended Leagues Cup matches through the semifinal, averaging 16,841 fans per match, said a source with knowledge of the matter. Inter Miami’s two group stage games at home rank as the most attended matches in club history, and the team recently set a league record for revenue on MLSStore.com by a club in a single year for jersey sales.

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