Lionel Messi joining MLS: What to know about his contract, number, tickets and more

This was updated on July 15, 2023 to reflect the announcement that Lionel Messi has officially signed with Inter Miami in MLS. 

Lionel Messi’s arrival in Miami is a potentially transformational move for Major League Soccer, and as such it comes with plenty of questions.

Here are some of the big ones, answered in as much detail as we know right now:

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How long has he signed for?

Messi’s contract is for two and a half seasons with an option to extend for a further year. So, he’s under contract through 2025 with the option to stay through the 2026 season.

When will he first play?

The Athletic first reported weeks ago that Inter Miami was targeting its first game in the Leagues Cup (a new competition involving every team in MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX), against Cruz Azul on July 21, to be Messi’s debut. In the club’s announcement of the signing, they confirmed that Messi “will first be available for selection” in that match.

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Elsewhere on The Athletic…

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Is he playing in the MLS All-Star Game?

No. The MLS All-Star team that will face Arsenal in that game has already been selected, and after all, Messi’s debut is slated to be just two days after that matchup. It was always unlikely he’d travel to D.C. for that.

What number will he wear?

Messi’s No. 10 shirts for Barcelona and Argentina remain iconic in the history of soccer, so much so that it was downright strange to see him wear the No. 30 in his two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain (even though he had worn that number previously as a youngster with Barça). Now, Messi is going back to a classic: he’ll wear the No. 10 for Miami, which the club has purposely kept unfilled all season in hope/anticipation of his arrival.

The Inter Miami No. 10 was previously worn by fellow Argentine Gonzalo Higuain in 2022, and Mexican Rodolfo Pizarro in 2021 and 2020. Pizarro’s contract was terminated on July 14 to clear the path for Messi’s inclusion in the squad.

Where is Messi now?

Messi landed at Fort Lauderdale Airport on Tuesday and has subsequently been spotted at a Miami restaurant and super market. Before that, he was in the Bahamas. After finishing his season with Paris Saint-Germain and playing a handful of friendlies and testimonials with the Argentina national team, Messi and his family have spent recent weeks on vacation in the Caribbean.

How much is he earning and who is paying it?

Unlike normal MLS contracts, it’s not a simple matter. For a legendary player and a potentially league-altering signing, MLS and Inter Miami got creative with compensation to ensure he wasn’t lured to Saudi Arabia.

Messi’s deal is worth around $50-60 million annually, though that includes the value of his equity in Inter Miami, which will activate after his time with the club. Additionally, Messi will receive additional income through MLS partners. He’ll get some portion of new MLS Season Pass subscriptions on Apple TV, as well as agreements for compensation from Adidas (who is his long-time sponsor and kit manufacturers for MLS and all 29 clubs) and Fanatics.

The Adidas and Apple portions of the deal are functionally separate from the base salary that he’ll make just as a player in MLS. The MLS Players’ Association will release salary details for all players later this year, as it did a few months ago. Messi’s number will be eagerly anticipated.

What’s the designated player rule?

To help facilitate the transformative signing of David Beckham to the LA Galaxy in 2007, MLS introduced a new rule atop their salary cap structure: Each team could pay one player, the designated player (DP), however much they wanted.

In today’s MLS, with Beckham a co-owner of Messi’s Miami, that rule has expanded to allow MLS clubs three DP slots. No matter what each DP is paid contractually, their salary counts against the budget at the senior maximum charge (this changes a bit every year, but in 2023 it’s $651,520).

For instance, MLS’s highest-paid player is Chicago Fire’s Xherdan Shaqiri. He makes $8,153,000 (per MLS Players Association), but hits Chicago’s salary cap at $651,520.

Does Messi speak English?

If he does, he’s never done so in any kind of extensive way publicly. He did tell the BBC before an interview in 2021 that he had been learning English for a year and a half, but that while he understands the language, he does not speak it. In his Inter Miami intro video, he only spoke Spanish. But as we’ve seen with superstars in other American sports leagues, there won’t be a language barrier for Messi in the U.S.

Is Messi the captain?

That hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s worth noting that Inter Miami’s designated captain at the start of the season, Gregore, is sidelined for at least a couple more months after suffering a foot injury in Miami’s second game. Striker Leonardo Campana wore the armband in Miami’s previous game against the Columbus Crew. Given Messi’s stature and the lack of a permanent captain, it seems likely that the armband will go to him.

Who will be coaching him?

That would be Gerardo “Tata” Martino, whom you might also recognize as Messi’s coach at Barcelona in the 2013-2014 season, and with Argentina from 2014-2016. Martino will also be familiar to North American soccer fans as the coach of Atlanta United (with which he won MLS Cup in 2018) and the Mexico national team from 2019-2022. Martino and Messi, both Argentinians, have a long history, which you can read about in-depth here.

How can I watch Inter Miami matches on TV/streaming?

All Inter Miami matches will be available to stream worldwide (with some exceptions) through Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass subscription service.  In the U.S., some matches will also be broadcast on Fox/FS1/Fox Deportes and Leagues Cup matches will be available on Univision/Unimas/TUDN.

For Inter Miami’s first two Leagues Cup matches, Season Pass will feature “an enhanced production” that includes “18 cameras, Steadicam, four super slow-motion cameras, Skycam, a drone, sideline reporters in Spanish and English, a dedicated one-hour pregame show on site with features, interviews and expert analysis, and a postgame show to wrap things up.”

Can I buy tickets easily?

It depends on what amount of money you consider to be “easy.” A ticket for Messi’s supposed debut, on July 21 against Cruz Azul, is going for a minimum of $350 at time of writing. That price point – around $300 or so – is true of most of Messi’s games with Miami for the remainder of the season, home and away.

Is he still good?

He is not just good, he’s arguably still the world’s best player.

Messi recorded 16 goals and 16 assists across 32 league appearances for his previous club, Paris Saint-Germain, helping the star-studded side to the Ligue 1 title last season. When on song, the connection between Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar was unstoppable for opposition defenses, with Messi and Neymar operating in deeper areas and feeding passes into space for Mbappe, PSG’s main source of goals.

Mbappe and Messi have met at the World Cup on two occasions, with Mbappe’s France beating Argentina on their way to glory in 2018 and Argentina winning a penalty shootout in the final in 2022. During that more recent tournament, Messi reminded doubters he is still among the top players in world football despite his age, scoring seven goals, including two in the final and the crucial first against Mexico in the group stage following the opening game defeat to Saudi Arabia. For his performances across the tournament, Messi won his second Golden Ball, the trophy awarded to the best individual player at a World Cup, after collecting his first in 2014.

While Inter Miami has struggled this season, Messi is expected to raise their ceiling considerably.

What if people pay big money to see him and he doesn’t play?

Then history will be repeating itself. David Beckham’s arrival at the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 is probably the closest analog to Messi’s move, with the notable difference being that Beckham arrived carrying an ankle injury that limited his minutes throughout his first half-season in the U.S. Ticket prices around the league shot up, but those buyers ended up being pretty unlikely to see Beckham at all, let alone see him play significant minutes: he only made five appearances (two starts) in the Galaxy’s 18 remaining league games. The prices were what they were.

On the plus side, Messi appears to be in good health as he begins his Miami adventure, so it seems from the outset that it will be much more likely that ticket-holders will actually see him play.

Is there an Apple documentary of him too?

In June, Apple announced a four-part documentary chronicling Messi’s World Cup career, including exclusive access and interviews from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The title and release date of the series has not yet been revealed.

Is Messi the greatest of all time?

There is still some degree of debate about this, though less than there was before he won his World Cup in 2022 with Argentina. Over a 19-year career at the top of the European and international game, Messi has scored over 800 goals, won countless major trophies, and collected a record seven Ballon d’Or awards, football’s most prestigious individual prize.

But it’s his remarkable creative ability that sets him apart from many of the all-time greats in many people’s eyes, including his most notable contemporary rival, Cristiano Ronaldo. At the top of his game, Messi contributes in all phases of the attacking play through his elite passing and dribbling. His ability to create opportunities from nowhere is comparable to Argentine icon Diego Maradona, Messi’s compatriot and another with a strong claim to the ‘greatest of all time’ tag.

Alongside Messi and Maradona, Pele is the third name most commonly mentioned in this discussion. During an 18-year career with Brazilian club Santos, Pele scored 569 goals in 583 recorded league games, but it was his performances for Brazil that elevated him as the first football star to transcend the sport globally. During his international career, he won three World Cups, the only player ever to do so, winning his first at 17. After four previous attempts, Messi finally won the biggest prize in world football last year at 35.

(Photo: Fred Lee/Getty Images)