This season he's played in 18 games and there were 450 other games that didn't involve Messi. Of course you might be talking about me saying MLS "is" instead of "isn't" available on local TV. Yes there have been some big crowds for Messi but on the whole there are plenty of teams that have been doing well with attendance without him playing their team. Philadelphia has been drawing above total capacity and they have one of the smallest stadiums in the league. . Once upon a time no local TV meant actually going to a game to see them play. The NFL had blackout rules and before cable watching teams play at home was a rarity. It can't just be Messi and the influx of money has brought more quality players to the league. Maybe going to the game or getting MLSSP with season tickets also helps get more people to the game as well. Two seasons with Apple and two records for attendance and Messi has played how many total games here?
I can think of a couple of hundred thousand he's directly responsible for. Just deduct season averages from these. 72,610 in KC. 51,035 at Vancouver hoping he would show up. Vancouver also sold a record number of season tickets. 65,612 in New England. 47,218 in Charlotte. 55,385 in Chicago. 67,795 in Atlanta. 44,728 in New York. And sellouts pretty much everywhere else. This wasn't happening when Higuain was lagging the line.
And you couldn't get a ticket to see Messi in Foxboro without buying a multi-game pack (minimum of 4 games). So that is at least 3 other games in Foxboro that Messi impacted attendance (or at least tickets sold) without even playing in the game. I'm sure other teams did the same.
There are 493 league matches this year. Messi plays in 34 of them at most. Which means for every extra 10K he brings into a match he raises the league average by...20. He's bringing in just over 8500 more in Miami than they were pulling in 2022, so that's 290 extra to the league average for the home games. Now secondary effects, like being required to buy multi game/season packages to get a Messi ticket, have some impact as well. But his direct impact is nowhere near as big as some people like to make it out to be.
Atlanta and Seattle had bigger crowds in the past than they have had this year. El traffico doesn't have anything to to with Messi. Yea he's a help but like I said 32 games played in two seasons out of over 900 games. Real Salt Lake played Miami away and are also averaging over capacity this year. It's more than just Messi. For me it's also the Apple money and teams like the Galaxy are a good example of spending this year that's being rewarded with fans butts in the seats.
If you think I'm claiming that Messi is responsible for all 11 million them you're misreading my post. He's responsible for a marginal increase that has helped take the league over a threshold. I'll give you an example. Vancouver sold an extra 5 or 6,000 season tickets because people didn't want to get scalped by Messi tickets. Even if many would have shown up anyway, let's multiply 3k x 17 = 51,000. And Messi didn't even travel.
His status as the GOAT boosted the league's credibility. The league had plenty of credibility to begin with, but him playing in MLS made casual football fans pay more attention to the league. Some of them went to their first MLS game ever/in a long time and liked what they saw. Now they're going regularly. Maybe a few Eurosnobs even changed their minds as a result. Maybe.
https://www.worldfootball.net/attendance/usa-major-league-soccer-2024/2/ Away 2024 1. Inter Miami 38,085 2. LA Galaxy 27,472 2023 1. Inter Miami 30,834 2. LAFC 27,919 Higher than 27,919 2008 1. L.A. Galaxy 28,127 2007 1. L.A. Galaxy 28,035
The only threshold I was hoping for was Messi selling Apple MLS Season Pass subscriptions, so they received more money from Apple. Like I said no doubt he's helped but the league was trending up well before he showed up and Covid was a big punch in the gut for the league when it came to momentum. . *From the New York Times In June "However, eight of the 11 teams that won’t host Miami this season are experiencing their own year-to-year growth compared to 2023, further illustrating a broader trend beyond the iconic Argentine’s direct influence. Despite a season that saw Atlanta United dismiss its coach in early June, the club has drawn 60,000 fans twice — and neither came against Miami. Perhaps surprisingly, 2024 marks the first time in CF Montréal’s 13 seasons as an MLS franchise that they’ve managed to sell out its allotment of season tickets". . To see Messi in all his glory would take an MLS Cup game in Miami against the LA Galaxy similar to the LAFC vs. Union 2022 cup final with Messi having a moment much like his debut at Leagues Cup. I'll give Messi all the credit for the growth of revenue with new corporate partners and game day money from his games. Other than the Covid years, once MLS passed 20K in 2015 they haven't looked back. Last year's average of 22,111 only beat the 2017 average by 95.
I don't know what point you're trying to make. The Messi effect is partly responsible for a rise in MLS attendances. That's proven, statistically. Would they have risen without him? Probably.
After the final round you will be close to 11.5 million... if you add that to the total crowds for the MLS V Liga Mx mid season competition... well over 12 million ... last seasons playoffs had close to 700K... its possible you could pass 13 million... that would be a massive achievement...
I'm already worried about how they're going to maintain this momentum and continue to grow. Not sure why. MLS has $2 billion in revenue and appears to be able to bring new sponsors at will. Attendances could drop 20% and the league would be just fine. Messi will be around next season. After that there's the WC and the Olympics. If MLS can tie into those it would be great. Atlanta, Seattle and a few others could offer MLS deals to World Cup visitors. NYC and Miami (again) should make some splashy post WC signings for their new stadiums. And negotiations for the next CBA should begin around 2026. I hope the next one will be transformative.
That's my only point. That it wasn't just Messi and that feeds into what happens when he leaves. Messi is big but he isn't the main reason for the rise in attendance.
No that wasn't your point. You questioned whether Messi was helping. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/2024-mls-attendance-thread.2129029/page-55#post-42572650
Part of the rise and possibly the biggest reason in my opinion is MLS acting more like a professional American league that now has generational history. Stadiums for the most part are geared towards the American experience of how we watch sports. Upgrades are now the thing with pubs, beer gardens, local restaurants, tailgating areas all being in or around the stadium. The ten year old kid who went to a game in 2000 isn't the 34 year old parent taking his kids to the same experience and the ten year old is looking at his local team as always being there. They don't go to the game the same as now they have history and it's not just a soccer mom thing anymore taking the kids to a shared stadium to see the new team in town.
You're telling me my point? My point was the perception was it was all Messi. I just think he's a great edition but was he really getting this much credit when he hasn't played that many games and league attendance is up across the league for the most part? I give more credit to the Apple deal than Messi as Apple is the best media partner they've had. You can give him all the credit in Miami but for the rest of the league it's more than just him.
You got me Paul. I think the real rise is Jack McGlynn who seen a rise in MLS attendance ever since he's become a starter.