Almost no downside for the league to do this deal. The people who think MLS is a reitrement league will not change their mind despite the number of young players being sold. The new eyeballs and fanfare this will bring will help keep the league on the front page in the sports world. As a fan of the league, I think this is a good idea. I do find it hilarious he is going to the worst team in the league.
Vomit in my mouth a little that MLS still needs this dog and pony show of Messi to stay "relevant"...
I'm sorry, but this thinking is sooooooooooo 2005. "MLS", regardless of how anyone may spin it, isn't signing Messi. He's not going to Kansas City or RSL. He's going to sign with Miami, of his own accord. Miami is going to sign a player of THEIR own accord. This isn't an MLS pub grab. Could Miami be doing it for publicity, even though they might think Messi isn't the world-class guy he used to be? Definitely. Don't paint the entire league this way.
Eh, I'm not sure it is that clean. I've heard rumors that part of his contract is revenue sharing with Apple TV and Adidas. Wouldn't that cut into the owners' revenue? I suppose that they could structure it in a way that he only gets proceeds of his jersey sales and a small percentage of new Apple TV subscriptions that started after his signing is announced.
The Athletic article is that it's his jersey sales and subs post signing. It could also be structured so that he gets different % depending on country. Apple has global broadcasting rights
Messi 2023 is loads better than Becks when he came over. Huge gain for the league. Too bad Miami already played in CBUS.
MLS is getting more attention in one day than it has ever had. Resale tickets for Inter Miami games are already going for 10x the price. This matters … whether you want to believe it or not
well, my anecdotal evidence is that my daughter is completely geeking out right now. Unfortunately we've already played Miami at home this year. At least we'll have season tickets to see them next year.
Wait… so you defend MLS endlessly to the hilt, and they go and sign the greatest player to ever play the game, raising the profile of the league, and you don’t care? How does that make any sort of sense?
- Tata Martino will be the new Miami coach. - Busquets, Alba, and Suarez might join Messi. That would be a super old team. - Chicho Arango is back in MLS… with RSL?!?!
This is huge for the league. This is gonna force owners to: 1. Change to natural grass or not have Messi play in your stadium 2. Step up spending or watch your team get left in dust
I have FS1 on right now, and a breaking news alert just came onto their crawl saying he's made the announcement, so it's official.
I was just about to say the same thing. Giving LaMacchia the benefit of the doubt, maybe he's not excited about him as a player or what he's done at Barthelona. But there's no denying the impact it is having and will have on MLS. Which is a good thing.
Bummer that we already hosted Miami this year. Just checked ticketmaster for Miami's game at Soldier Field in October or whenever and the Fire seemed to raised their regular ticket prices up to $300!!!!!. For one ticket!!!
To be honest, I lean more towards LaMacchia on this one. I lived through the Beckham hype, and by the time it was over, I was downright exhausted by the whole thing, and was glad to be done of it. They tried to force feed us all Galaxy all the time, and I still don't feel like people outside of soccer circles were really spending more time talking about MLS. Now Messi might be different, because now that MLS is in the worldwide streaming business, there might be some people out there who will subscribe who otherwise might not. How many remains to be seen. But I think that people who were already tuning in to MLS probably have a favorite team already, and are going to focus more on that aspect of fandom. Messi will be playing for Miami. Another Eastern Conference team, whose home games will kick off at the same time as mine. I'm not skipping Crew games to tune in to watch MessiFest. The only way I'm going to opt for Miami matches is if they somehow manage to keep their mouths shut on the other games and I decide to tune in AFTER we're done. But I still might be more likely to watch the live west coast games instead, depending on the matchups. I'm sure I'll check Miami out here and there, depending on what else is on. But it's way down the list. I'm also not thrilled about Apple giving him profit sharing, or whatever other strings are being pulled. MLS needed Beckham back then, but the league is bigger now. If Miami wants to back up a Brinks truck for him, fine. He's a DP. Pay him whatever. If the league is going out of their way to help, I'm not for that.
Which NFL stadiums: 1) have real grass 2) are in the same city as a MLS team And 3) that team is playing Miami. Ticket golazo.
I think that's only KC and Chicago. Austin, LAs, and a few other college towns have grass fields. Miami's Hard Rock stadium is grass.
I'm honestly surprised how many of you care and would want to see him play. He's literally coming here in the long twilight of his career. This isn't 2011-2012 Messi. This is, "I'm going where I can cash a lucrative check for a few more years for minimal physical outlay".