NEW YORK — After two decades of playing against Real Madrid, Man U and Brazil, Lionel Messi will in some way go up against the NFL, Major League Baseball and the NBA.
The league hopes the star’s arrival will help boost TV viewership and market share after Messi joins Inter Miami next month.
After Pelé with the New York Cosmos in 1975 and David Beckham with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007, Messi will be the third superstar to join MLS.
“Lionel Messi in MLS is unique,” said former United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati. He’s one of the best players of all time, or maybe even the best.”
Messi will join Inter Miami at 36, when Pele was 34 and Beckham 32.
Messi remains in Argentina’s starting team and could play in the next Copa America next year, in addition to the 2026 World Cup.
The first event will be held entirely in the United States, the second in part.
At Downing Stadium, the former NASL’s Cosmos averaged 3,578 fans per game in 1974, the season before Pele arrived.
By its final season, in 1977, more than 34,000 people on average attended games in New Jersey, at what is now called MetLife Stadium.
Since the creation of the MLS and the increase in the audience, things have obviously changed for American soccer.
ABC and ESPN aired 34 MLS matches last year, averaging 343,300 viewers.
World Cup champion Messi brings a very large potential audience.
On Instagram, the athlete has more than 469 million subscribers; by comparison, the athlete with the most currently in MLS is Javier Hernández of the Galaxy, with 22 million.
2023-06-09 04:19:45
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