August 8 –Lionel Messi’s move to InterMiami has been a stunning success, even by Messi’s standards. Messi has provided goals, star quality and a financial platform that could prove to be a gamechanger for the MLS and the professional men’s game in the US.
Messi joined an InterMiami team that was bottom of the MLS and hadn’t won in 11 games going into the Leagues Cup, the new competition that sees the MLS and LigaMX break for a month to play a competition with Concacaf Champions Cup qualification on the line.
In just four games in the Leagues Cup, Messi has turned InterMiami’s season around, scoring a remarkable seven goals (and some of them have been truly remarkable) and sending his team through as the first club to qualify for the Leagues Cup quarter finals.
It is a story you could barely make up. On Sunday InterMiami’s away match to FC Dallas at the Toyota Stadium in Texas was the hottest ticket in the US with estimates putting the average price at more than $800 on the secondary ticket markets.
On cue, Messi opened the scoring in the 8th minute, before FC Dallas hit back to take a 3-1 lead. InterMiami dragged it back to 3-3 before conceding an own goal. With five minutes to go Messi stepped up to level the scores at 4-4. In the penalty shoot-out he scored again as InterMiami left FC Dallas with a 5-3 win on penalties.
It was the third time in four games Messi has scored a brace. InterMiami now face Charlotte at home in Fort Lauderdale on Friday.
Messi-mania has lit up the inaugural edition of the Leagues Cup, an innovative concept in a country that has spent the most recent part of the summer watching the giant clubs of Europe parade through their biggest stadiums pocketing cash and building fans before returning to Europe for the start of their own seasons.
In the past when this has happened the MLS has quietly gone about its business in the shadow of the European money-raid. With Messi shaking the trees at InterMiami they are still going about their business, just not so quietly and with a much bigger swagger.
The Messi-effect is not just transforming InterMiami’s performance and attendances.
Ares Management has spent a further $75 million increasing its equity stake in Inter Miami, and taking its total spend on the club to $225 million – Inter Miami was listed as the 11th most valuable MLS franchise at $600 million by Forbes, though the club has likely catapulted up that ranking with Messi’s arrival.
For the MLS and its broadcast partner Apple – in the first year of a $2.5 billion, 10-year deal – Messi has been the launch boost from heaven. So valuable was Messi to the broadcast deal that Apple cut him in with a revenue share from the MLS Season Pass. While Apple has not released subscriber numbers for its MLS platform, reports are that subscription take-up is beating expectations.
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