The match between Los Angeles FC and Inter Miami within the framework of the 2023 American professional soccer tournament (MLS) taking place on September 4 is witnessing an unprecedented ticket fever.
American football fans have to spend quite a lot of money to get on the field to witness Messi play. Photo: Eurosports
This fever is causing the whole city of Los Angeles to explode because of Messi. The capacity of BMO Stadium, where the match took place, is only 22,000 people, but there are hundreds of thousands of people who want to enter the stadium directly to watch the Argentine superstar play.
Messi has now played a total of 10 matches for Inter Miami, scoring 11 goals and providing 6 assists. Messi’s impressive achievements along with his name have created an unprecedented ticket fever in the US.
Part of the attraction of this competition is Messi and it is resonated by the “hotness” of Los Angeles FC. This club has great influence in the East.
That attraction causes the demand for tickets to increase greatly. The average price for a ticket to watch this match live is being sold for no less than 690 USD, an increase of nearly 7 times compared to the average price of 110 USD/ticket in MLS, before Messi’s arrival. Messi is creating the biggest football match in American history. But even if you have money, you may not be able to buy tickets because there are too many people who want to see the Argentine superstar play.
Currently, Los Angeles FC is ranked 2nd in the Eastern region rankings and has a relatively impressive performance at home with 4 wins and only 1 defeat in the last 5 matches.
Meanwhile, Inter Miami will face Los Angel FC in round 26 of Major League Soccer with the task of winning to escape the bottom group in the Eastern region and move closer to reaching the Play-offs round.
In this position, if achieved, Inter Miami will compete in the wild card round with teams in similar positions in the Western region table. If they continue to win, they will officially be in the play-off round to compete for the championship called MLS Cup.
In total, in the play-off round to compete for the MLS Cup championship in 2023, there will be 16 teams, including 14 teams entering directly, which are the teams ranked in the top 7 groups in the 2 groups of the East and West regions, and 2 teams that pass the wild round. card.
In the latest match, they only drew 0 – 0 with Nashville, the first time the pink shirt team did not score since Messi was introduced. That was also the first time the Argentine striker played at Inter Miami’s DRV PNK home field within MLS. With this draw, Inter Miami broke their streak of 10 consecutive wins since Messi arrived.
With 22 points, Inter Miami let the bottom team Toronto catch up, but still ranked above thanks to the extra difference (-12 and -16). Messi and his teammates are 7 points behind the 13th ranked team, New York City, but this team is playing less than 2 opponents in 3 matches.
The ticket price for the match between Inter Miami and Los Angeles FC is the most expensive for a Major League Soccer match ever. The average price of this match is approximately 690 USD, an increase of 527% compared to the average ticket price of a previous MLS match.
According to calculations, Inter Miami needs to win about 21 more points in the remaining 11 matches (maximum 33 points), to have at least 42 points. With this score, they can win a spot in the wild card round. Last season, Charlotte FC ranked 9th with 42 points, and Inter Miami must at least reach this score to have a chance to continue.
However, Inter Miami’s schedule in the remaining matches is a huge challenge for Messi and his teammates. After the match against Los Angeles FC, Inter Miami also faces 3 of the 4 teams currently in the top group of the Eastern region: Atlanta United, Orlando City and FC Cincinnati.
First, Messi and Inter Miami need a good result in Los Angeles. Despite winning the Leagues Cup – the first trophy in the club’s history – they are currently 10 points behind the MLS Play-offs.
Messi is becoming a phenomenon in MLS. Photo: Eurosports
Inter Miami in particular, and MLS in general, are benefiting from this unprecedented fever. According to statistics, in just 9 matches with Messi, Inter Miami earned 256 million USD in ticket money alone.
Inter Miami’s jersey has become the best-selling MLS club soccer kit in the US currently.
Messi comes to Inter Miami, it is expected that this team’s revenue will increase by 257% within 1 year. The team’s revenue in 2022 is 56 million USD (the best earning club in MLS Atlanta United is 103 million USD). With Messi, David Beckham’s team is expected to earn $200 million. That will help Miami become the club that earns the most money in an MLS season. In the world, only 33 clubs achieve revenue of 200 million USD or more in the 2022 season, of which there is only one American team, Flamengo (Brazil).
After the match against Los Angeles FC, Messi will temporarily leave Inter Miami to focus on the Argentina team to prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. This striker can only return in the match Inter Miami welcomes Toronto at home. on September 21.