Opposing MLS Teams Make Big Plans for Miami, With or Without Messi 

Whatever Lionel Messi touches turns into gold. The Argentine soccer star joined MLS’ Inter Miami CF last July and since then, the club has thrived on and off the field.

Inter Miami won the 2023 Leagues Cup in a shootout win over Nashville FC with Messi coming in as a sub. The team’s valuation has skyrocketed to over a billion dollars, a 74% increase over the last year, according to Sportico’s MLS valuations. Ticket prices at the newly renamed Chase Stadium doubled (if not tripled) in price. Ares Management Corp. (NYSE: ARES) closed on a $75 million preferred equity stake investment in the franchise two weeks after Messi debuted. The club sold out of 2024 season-ticket packages last November, and 3,550 seats were added to Chase Stadium to match the demand. 

Messi also delivered revenue boosts for opposing teams whenever the team went on the road, and much of that success has continued into this season, even though his playing status for Inter Miami on any given day remains unpredictable. He played three matches this season before getting injured against Nashville SC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup round of 16 on March 13. Additionally, the 36-year-old receives rest days and has international playing obligations.

But that doesn’t seem to slow opposing clubs from going all out on their strategy to attract fans to watch soccer’s GOAT.

On March 27 New England Revolution announced it sold over 60,000 tickets for its match on April 27 against Inter Miami, potentially setting a single-game attendance record for a home game at Gillette Stadium, also home to the NFL’s New England Patriots, in Foxborough, Mass.

The Revs also approached the Inter Miami game as an opportunity to convert new long-term fans. The club priced this game reasonably, with no increase for season-ticket holders, while offering sizable discounts and early access to fans willing to purchase 4- and 6-game packs.

This strategy has proven successful. By Feb. 13, almost two months before the match against Miami, 30,000 tickets were sold to existing fans or those who have tickets to at least four games this season. In 2023, their single-season attendance record was 23,940 fans. 

“One of the big opportunities for having Messi in MLS is overall brand awareness and getting people into the game,” Dave Wakeman of Wakeman Consulting Group said in a video call. “But the real test of the staying power and the potential opportunity will be some of these markets he went to last year.” 

Last season, D.C. United saw fans purchasing tickets for the July 8 match against Inter Miami when the news that Messi might join the team started circulating. 

“We saw single-game ticket sales pick up three to four weeks before the game that we don’t typically see. Usually, we see 60% of our sales come in the final two weeks, but this was just off-trend,” James Armold, D.C. United’s SVP of ticket sales and service, said in a video call.

At that point, the club made some minor adjustments to dynamically price up to capitalize on the moment. “We tried to match the pricing with the rate that the market is receiving it,” Armold said.

While D.C. United did not end up hosting the Argentine last summer, it was among the first teams to host Inter Miami in 2024. The club put the ticket sales strategy in place even before the 2024 schedule was out, knowing it would likely play Inter Miami during a period unaffected by international windows. This time, the club’s strategy was to build long-term sustainable growth. 

“Our data shows on the back end that if we’re able to get people to come to a match or two matches in a year, they’re 60% more likely to come back,” Armold said. “Once we knew we would have Messi, we split our remaining inventory into four different types of ticket products that we would move, so we attached it to additional games, either before or after the Inter Miami game.”

After Messi had injured himself during the CONCACAF Champions Cup, Inter Miami coach Tata Martino rested him against D.C. United. Fans did not seem to care. 

“The Audi Field was full, and I’d say 50% [of fans were wearing] pink Messi No. 10 jerseys, even though it was announced the Argentine did not travel to D.C. with the team,” said Wakeman, who attended the match. 

New York Red Bull had a similar experience to D.C. United. Last year, the club maximized the revenue from their August matchup against Inter Miami. In an interview with Sportico at that time, the team’s president and general manager, Marc de Grandpré, said the club held back ticket inventory all year, knowing Messi visiting New York was a possibility, and restructured their offerings once the news was official. The ticket gate for Inter Miami was two to three times larger than for a regular game. A record crowd of 26,276 arrived in the Red Bull Arena for the August 26 match.

This year, Red Bull played Inter Miami earlier in the season during an international break, meaning Messi did not travel with the team. But despite his absence and the torrential rain, Red Bull Arena was packed with fans. The club did not share the ticket gate for the match, but 25,219 fans were there to celebrate Red Bull’s 4-0 win.

Leaguewide, the 2024 season is off to a good start: Ticket sales are up 15%, and season ticket revenue is up 25% compared to 2023, MLS said. According to the ticketing platform StubHub, preseason ticket sales have increased sevenfold compared to last season, with sales for every team up from last season. 

“The biggest challenge we have in the league as a whole is the attribution to Messi,” Armold said. “Like what is the actual Messi effect?”

(This article has been updated to correct the spelling of James Armold’s name.)