NEWSLETTER
Believe it or not the greatest soccer player of his generation and maybe all-time, Lionel Messi, is coming to Major League Soccer.
Around 8am this morning, CBS Sports and the BBC’s Guillem Balague was the first to report that Messi was signing with Inter Miami. The most iron-clad confirmation came early this afternoon.
Fabrizio Romano, soccer’s Adam Schefter or Woj, tweeted his signature, “here we go!” that Messi was indeed coming to MLS.
There are a LOT of details to iron out with this blockbuster signing. How much money will Messi be making? Will he make his debut this season or wait until the start of the 2024 season? Are Apple and ADIDAS really going to share revenue with him?
Regardless, this is a major coup for Major League Soccer. The quality of the league has improved significantly over the past several years, but it’s still a league that struggles to get eyeballs. We aren’t talking about in comparison to other American leagues here. MLS’ ratings on ESPN and FOX lagged significantly behind the Premier League on NBC.
MLS made the interesting deal to sell its TV rights to Apple and while the platform has been good, there have been early rumblings the subscription numbers lagged far below what Apple was expecting so they needed something to give them a boost. There are already plans for Apple to produce a documentary series on Messi.
Lionel Messi signing with Inter Miami is a huge coup for MLS
There were reports that Messi was pushing to return to Barcelona or might take a boatload of cash to go play in Saudi Arabia, but at the end of the day, it appears as if he’s opting to come to the United States.
If Messi does indeed suit up this season he’ll be in an interesting spot. Inter Miami is last place in the Eastern Conference. However, they’re just six points out of the final playoff spot and MLS is a league where things can happen very quickly. Last place teams can go on a win streak and end up in the middle of the table pretty rapidly.
Messi’s best days are clearly behind him and his tenure at PSG ended poorly. That said, he clearly has something left in the tank after leading Argentina to the World Cup Championship. Also, it doesn’t need to be said that even at this point in his career Messi would be the best player in Major League Soccer by a wide, wide margin.
And if you were wondering, in the chances Messi might play for Inter Miami would he be coming to Chicago? The answer is yes, but it comes at a price. Inter Miami visits Chicago on October 4th, but as of this writing the cheapest ticket at Vivid Seats is $275.
