Lionel Messi on the soccer field — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Image by: cristiano barni
Three days after shocking the soccer world by announcing his departure from Paris Saint-Germain and signing with MLS team Inter Miami FC, soccer great Lionel Messi, ticket prices throughout the league have already skyrocketed.
The secondary market for ticket sales for Inter Miami’s games starting in July, according to StubHub, has surged by almost 28 times since the announcement.
According to the ticketing business, tickets for matches starting in July 2023 have already sold more than those for the entire 2022 season.
It won’t be cheap to witness Messi, who is regarded as one of the all-time best soccer players and the World Cup champion from last year.
Since the news broke, the average ticket price for the David Beckham-owned squad has increased by 4.5 times, going from $24.52 to $124.51.
Cruz Azul of the Mexican League and Inter Miami were playing in the Leagues Cup, and according to Vivid Seats, the average cost of a ticket to that game has increased by 1,021 percent. Six days later, on June 11, the identical ticket that cost $122 on June 4 was selling for $1,413.
Inter Miami quickly rose to the fourth-highest-selling team for season sales on StubHub from being the seventh-highest-selling club of the 2023 season.
On CNBC’s “Last Call,” sports business analyst Joe Pompliano stated that “supply is limited.”
There are only 18K seats in Miami’s stadium if you look at it. There are 100,000 seats in Barcelona, where Messi spent the majority of his career. The supply and demand dynamic we are seeing is fundamentally unbalanced, he continued.
All of this is for a team that is currently searching for a new coach after just letting third-year coach Phil Neville go. The squad is currently in last place in the MLS’ Eastern Conference.
Miami isn’t the only place experiencing growth; Messi’s potential rivals are as well.
“Messi will be a draw for soccer fans across the country, drawing fans to away matches much as we see with big stars in the NFL and NBA,” claimed Adam Budelli, a representative for StubHub.
On September 3, Messi and Inter Miami are scheduled to visit LAFC at SoFi Stadium. Sales for the match increased from the 15th to the second highest-selling event of the season, and according to StubHub data, it is on track to comfortably be the No. 1 event of the LAFC season.
Not only ticket sales in Miami are increasing, which is encouraging. Merchandise sales are also booming.
Even though supporters won’t begin purchasing Lionel Messi Inter Miami FC shirts until the transaction is finalized, they have already purchased a sizable amount of team apparel.
The online sports retailer claims that since Wednesday, more Inter Miami gear has been sold than in the preceding two months combined.
Inter Miami has been among the top five-selling teams across all sports on the Fanatics network since Wednesday.
Inter Miami is currently preparing to capitalize on its potential future worldwide audience.
The team applied to register “LIBERTAD PARA SOÑAR,” the Spanish equivalent of the team’s catchphrase “Freedom to Dream,” on June 5, according to Josh Gerben, a trademark lawyer at Gerben Law.
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.