Lionel Messi, widely regarded as the best soccer player of all time, has come to the MLS (Major League Soccer). In mid-July of this year, Inter Miami successfully signed the 36 year old. In his contract: he will be given an ownership stake when he retires, a part of the revenue from Apple TV's MLS Season Pass, be able to maximize his deal with Adidas, and he will be given $250 million per year until Apple reaches a certain amount of subscribers. He also decided on Inter Miami over teams in Saudi Arabia because he wanted to get out of the spotlight a little bit. Another thing, Miami has a large Latino/Hispanic population and Messi can't/won't speak English well, so Inter Miami is a good fit for Messi on a language basis.
Inter Miami before Messi joined was on a losing streak of 11 games. They were the lowest ranked team out of the 29 MLS teams. Then Messi joined bringing with him Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba and Inter Miami have yet to lose a game. In 11 games, Messi has scored 11 goals and assisted 8 times. Inter Miami's record with Messi has been 11 wins, 1 draw, and 0 losses.
The club is also making a ton of money off of Messi. Between merchandise sales, ticket sales,etc., the club has made at least $200 million. FYI, the cheapest Inter Miami tickets are $74 and are on average $170.
Messi is currently playing for Argentina's national team so they can qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be hosted in Mexico, the U.S.A., and Canada. Although, even without their star player, Inter Miami has won their most recent game against Sporting KC.
Due to his feats in the previous World Cup and in the MLS, Messi, along with 29 other players, is nominated for this year's Ballon'dOr. For those that don't know, the Ballon'dOr is the award that is given to the best player for mens soccer that year, and this would be Messi's 8th if he wins this. He currently has the most Ballon'dOrs in the world.
I think Messi has been a great addition to the MLS because he brought new fans, more attention, and more international players. Those international players have been and will continue to raise the playing level of soccer in the U.S.
Questions:
1. Do you think Messi is a good addition to the MLS?
2. Why is Messi a good or bad addition to the MLS?
3. Would you go watch an Inter Miami game?
Replies
I think Messi is a good addition to the mls because he is bringing and creating more fans for the mls, and is helping the mls make more money. I would watch an Inter Miami game because I think it would be cool to watch Messi play.
Good topic choic and well done Matthew! I think a picture of Messi would be a good idea here because, while he is super famous around the world, here in the US many people don't know him.
I think Messi is a good addition to the MLS, he is making the worst team into one of the best and making the MLS more fun to watch. He has turned one of the worst teams into an amazing team and I think that it would be really fun to go watch him play on his new team.
The MLS is defenitely more fun to watch and that fact that he was able to completely turn around Inter Miami is incredible.
I think that Messi is an amazing addition to the MLS and will gain fans for him individually and for the MLS themselves. He will bring fans with him to games which will bring in more money. I probably would not go to an Inter-Miami game.
I agree that Messi is gaining fans for himself as well as the MLS.
I think Messi will be a good addition to the MLS, as well as being better for him personally. Messi an incredible player, any team would be lucky to have him. He works hard on any team he plays for as well as benefiting their programs. I would love to see Messi play someday, and because of his switch to the MLS, I just might get the chance.
Coming to Inter Miami is definitely better for Messi and the team.
I think that Messi is a GREAT addition to the MLS and America needed a truly legendary player to bring some money back into the MLS. Messi is a big upgrade to the MLS and will bring plenty of money into the MLS. With Messi playing, I would definitely go to an Inter-Miami game.
I agree that we needed Messi to come to the MLS. I would also love to go to a game.
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