MLS Sees 400,000 Ticket Surge Thanks to Messi Effect

Lionel Messi never pauses in his incredible performance or in his astounding numerical output. And his most recent achievement has not even called for his on-field presence.

The mere fact that Messi is on the roster has already managed to sell almost 400,000 tickets in 12 Inter Miami away games in which he hasn’t participated after deciding to leave Messi back in South Florida for Sunday night’s battle at the Houston Dynamo.

The precise overall paid attendance over those games is 406,864, or an average of 33,105 each match.

About half of those were absent from Messi owing to an injury issue not known at the time many people bought their tickets. In a few others, like Sunday, the eight-time Ballon d’or winner was kept home for load control while Miami negotiated a more packed stretch of events.

And in three cases, supporters who attended because they believed Argentina’s star would be present should have done more study and understood Messi was likely to be abroad with the Argentina national team at the 2024 Copa America. Still, it’s clear that Messi’s simple suggestion had a real influence on ticket sales even in those.