Messi Is Coming

It’s not everyday that the world’s best player comes to play in America. Pele on the New York Cosmos is the only other time it has happened in American soccer history. Lionel Messi has decided to come play for Inter Miami. But what does that actually mean for the league?

In many ways, this is really good for MLS. The world’s eyes will definitely be on the league now, and Apple will have a field day selling more Season Pass subscriptions. Just the attention is immense for the league. 

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Now we get to the part where I completely trash the league for allowing this to happen. Miami was already caught cheating by misrepresenting salary numbers back in 2020. They didn’t categorize some of their players as DPs, so the league took away a lot of their allocation money. Once again, Miami are effectively skirting the rules. But this is actually historically accurate for MLS. Both the Dempsey and Beckham transfers didn’t work within the league’s own stupid roster limits, so they had to break the rules in order to get both of those players in. If the rosters are set up to specifically limit this kind of transfer, why do those rules exist in the first place? According to The Athletic, Miami’s offer to Messi was similar to Beckham’s deal. He will share some of the profits from Apple TV, and Adidas have a special endorsement deal with him. This is pretty good news. The best news that can come out of this, however, will be a raise of the salary cap. 

An extra DP would be stupid. I don’t believe that the league’s issues revolve around getting high-end talent. Pirlo, Lampard, Gerrard, and Ibrahimovic have all played in MLS. But quality depth still hampers most teams. If the cap is raised, more teams will have an opportunity to sign better depth pieces in order for rosters to be more complete. Open Cup will no longer feature heavily rotated teams. Injuries won’t be as catastrophic for most clubs. Messi has now raised the bar for this league, and now they have to meet it. 

In terms of Miami, I doubt that they will contend immediately. Yes, Messi provides a giant spark to their attack, but they’re still weak in the back. With all the investment into various attacks around the league, I can’t foresee them immediately in the league’s upper tier due to one player. Messi is now a diamond inside a giant trash bag. If more investment comes, it will probably be illegal, but given the OK from the league as a whole. They are still operating under the sanctions from MLS, but they have once again weaseled out of getting punished. Bleh.

Ticket prices to Miami games are already going through the roof, yet there is no confirmation on when he’ll actually join the team. I would imagine he will be here this season though. Oh well. 

One last thought: the Timbers don’t play Miami this year. Our next match against them will be at Providence Park, but Messi might not play due to turf. Keep that in mind before you buy your ticket. If you are a season ticket holder, now you have a serious choice to make. Do you miss an opportunity to possibly see the greatest player in the world? Or do you choose to let your season ticket pay for itself? I’m glad I don’t have to make that decision. 

Either way, MLS has just done it again. They are now firmly in the world’s must-watch leagues, and I hope that the new viewing audience can see it as it really is: fun, engaging, American soccer. Welcome to the big time, MLS.

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