MLS football fans will pay more to see Lionel Messi

NEW YORK – A holiday deal offered by the New York Red Bulls features some merchandise as well as tickets to two games, including their first home game of the season.

But there is some fine print.

The Major League Soccer (MLS) schedule will not be announced until the end of 2023. If it turns out that the home opener is against Inter Miami, fans who buy the package will get tickets for the second home game instead.

The reason is Lionel Messi.

A chance to see the global superstar is a lot more appealing than a random game against, say, Toronto FC. Any time he comes to town will be an event, and teams do not want to just throw such a golden ticket into a package deal.

Some Red Bulls fans who noticed the fine print were annoyed. But at least a few others shrugged it off as a smart business move.

“It’s purely naive to expect the league not to try to capitalise on this at all costs,” said Dan Rodriguez.

The Red Bulls did not respond to a question about the ticket offer. Even if fans lose the Messi game, the deal still includes a game against the team’s regional rivals, New York City FC.

And because there are 29 MLS teams, the chance that the first game will actually be against Miami and Messi is slim.

Around the league, though, teams are seeing a gold mine in Messi. Not every team have set their full pricing yet, especially since the schedule has not been announced.

But the Columbus Crew are charging at least US$382 (S$513) for their home game against Miami – and US$421 and US$679 for better seats. In contrast, tickets for ordinary Crew games could be had for as little as US$40.

Dynamic pricing is not unusual in MLS or other sports. A big game might cost slightly more, but not several hundred dollars more.

Miami themselves are charging between 46 and 82 per cent more for standard season tickets than they did in 2023, when Messi joined in mid-season.

Less expensive packages are now about US$800 for 17 games, and other season tickets are US$4,000, US$7,000 or even US$10,000 for seats with club access.

That makes Miami’s offerings one of the priciest season tickets in the world. The most expensive season ticket to Tottenham Hotspur costs US$2,498, and it is US$1,021 for Barcelona, World Soccer Talk reported.

Messi signed for Miami in July,

when many tickets were already sold. That meant fans already with tickets to his games were able to cash in on a resale, while no extra money flowed to the teams.

For next season, teams have time to plan and get some of that mark-up for themselves.

Of course, that is assuming he plays. He will turn 37 soon and missed some games in 2023 with injury.

After he missed a game in Chicago in October, for which 61,000 tickets had been sold, the Chicago Fire offered US$250 credit for season ticket holders and US$50 to single-game buyers as compensation.

MLS teams will now be hoping that they will get full houses of fans in expensive seats, and not have to dole out refunds, for 2024.

NYTIMES