The invites landed last Friday and they came shrouded in mystery. Inter Miami vowed it would be a ‘special event’ but they were rather thin on detail. There was a date and a time and a location. But very little else. No guest list, no itinerary. Just the promise of ‘exciting entertainment, speeches… and more’. Oh, and a name: ‘The Unveil.’
Perhaps the club were reluctant to tempt fate. Perhaps they thought some people really do kip under a rock. But, really, they need not have bothered. Sunday’s event has long been the worst-kept secret in sport.
But still they waited, until Saturday night, to tell the world what they already knew: Lionel Messi is in town.
‘Ten years ago, when I started my journey to build a new team in Miami, I said that I dreamt of bringing the greatest players in the world to this amazing city,’ David Beckham, Inter Miami co-owner said.
‘Players who shared the ambition I had when I joined LA Galaxy to help grow football in the USA and to build a legacy for the next generation in this sport that we love so much… today that dream came true.’
Inter Miami finally announced the arrival of Lionel Messi to confirm MLS’ worst-kept secret
Messi signed a deal with the club through the 2025 MLS season following his PSG departure
The Argentina superstar was spotted getting used to life in Miami – alongside his wife Antonella and three children – earlier this week
Can you blame them for jumping the gun? Beckham has been plastering the news on the side of wall in Miami’s Wynwood district.
His co-owner Jorge Mas has been shouting about the three years of planning that went into Sunday’s celebration in Fort Lauderdale.
Adidas have used their flagship New York store, on Broadway, to sing all about it. The mayor of Fort Lauderdale has been shooting a commercial to mark the occasion.
Even the horse has been running his mouth.
It has been six weeks since Messi first announced he was heading to Major League Soccer. Since he snubbed Saudi Arabia for South Beach and sent shockwaves across this vast country.
Technically the deal only became official last night. Sunday, at Inter Miami’s DRV PNK Stadium, the 36-year-old will be presented to the world.
MLS has been waiting for a night like this since 2007, when media and supporters descended on Los Angeles to welcome Beckham to LA Galaxy. It caused a ‘hurricane’.
The hope? Messi’s move will be similarly transformative. For Inter Miami, who remain bottom of the Eastern Conference.
And for soccer in America, which continues to swell ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America.
Inter Miami has been plastering the news on the side of wall in Miami’s Wynwood district
A sign reads ‘Bienvenido A Miami’ above a photo of Messi and Inter Miami merchandise
Messi landed in Florida this week. He already has a $9million apartment in Miami and, on Thursday evening, the family were spotted shopping at supermarket chain Publix – mingling with supporters and picking up the bare necessities: boxes of cereal including General Mills’ Lucky Charms.
Inter Miami are counting their blessings even before Messi has pulled on the shirt – the club now have more Instagram followers than any other MLS, hockey, baseball or American football team. On the pitch, an old boys’ reunion is underway in South Florida. Sergio Busquets has followed his former Barcelona team-mate. Jordi Alba is tipped to join them.
No wonder Mas began pursuing the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner before Inter Miami had even played a game. No wonder Beckham has spent some of the past week helping to paint a Messi mural in Miami. No wonder Adidas cashed in early, too, plastering mock-ups of Messi in their Broadway store.
On the ground in Fort Lauderdale, politicians and football figures already sense the sands shifting. Ticket prices for his debut, slated for next Friday, are going for up to $10,000. Mas believes he can make MLS one of the world’s top three leagues.
There are hopes, too, that he can help erode structural barriers in US soccer and unlock greater opportunities for promising boys and girls. Fort Lauderdale’s mayor, Dean Trantalis, is already planning to give Messi a key to the city. He hasn’t kicked a ball yet. No pressure, then. At least Messi has company.
It is easy to join the dots between Sunday night’s unveiling and Beckham’s arrival in 2007. MLS rewrote their own rulebook to make that deal happen and they have pulled similar levers to lure Messi to Miami. Part of Beckham’s contract included the chance to own a team. He brought soccer to South Florida and now Messi – arguably the greatest player of all time – has joined him here.
Does any other sports team boast such a powerful commercial strike force? Mayor Trantalis burst into laughter when Mail Sport suggested his city might have hit the jackpot. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t get any better!’
And yet, questions remain.
Messi, his wife Antonela and his three children went shopping at Publix in Palm Beach
The small print of Messi’s two-and-a-half-year contract is a little unclear. Mas has said the 36-year-old will earn $50-60million a year from Inter Miami. Then there are the extra commercial partnerships which helped make this possible.
Messi has held talks with companies such as Apple and Adidas over revenue sharing. It’s thought he will earn a percentage of the money he drives in Adidas shirt sales and Apple’s MLS subscriptions.
The contract also reportedly gives Messi a stake in his new club once he finishes playing.
The true value of that clause depends, of course, on the worth of Inter Miami.
Before he signed, they were valued at $585m. That will change with his arrival and their upcoming move into a new $1billion stadium.
Few knew about the ownership clause in Beckham’s contract 16 years ago, either. Back then, MLS had to find creative ways to make the numbers add up. They created a ‘designated player’ (each team now has three slots), whose wages are not bound by salary cap rules.
But will he be worth all this investment? Messi won the World Cup eight months ago but, at 36, does he still have the same midas touch? His recent spell at Paris Saint-Germain ended with boos and bad blood, after all.
The arrival of Messi, 36, represents a major coup for David Beckham’s (middle) Inter Miami and for MLS
Beckham felt similar wrath in LA – he was booed and branded a fraud by some supporters before leading the Galaxy to back-to-back MLS.
Supporters will expect Messi to revive Miami’s fortunes. To help, one MLS coach has suggested he should be given the (Michael) ‘Jordan treatment’. Favourable treatment from referees, in other words.
Whether officials heed that advice remains to be seen. But what is clear: Messi is moving to a different country to the one that welcomed Pele in the 1970s and the conveyor belt of stars since. Even since Beckham arrived, the league has expanded from 13 to 29 teams and its value has snowballed, too. Back in 2007, MLS’ TV deal was reportedly worth $8m a year. From this season, Apple’s 10-year deal is worth $2.5bn.
The country as a whole is more ready for a football icon. But some believe that makes this deal more risky. US soccer doesn’t need a hero like maybe it once did.
But that won’t make events like Sunday any less special.
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