Could some seats be empty for Messi?
Team may have overestimated how much fans are willing to pay to see the superstar
Messi Mania is coming to Montreal. Lionel Messi — one of the biggest soccer superstars in the world who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all-time — will be at Saputo Stadium Saturday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV) when his Inter Miami FC team takes on CF Montréal in MLS action.
The 36-year-old Argentine forward has won a record seven Ballon d'Or titles as the world player of the year, is the only player to win two FIFA World Cup Golden Balls as the top player in the tournament and led Argentina to the World Cup championship in 2022, along with an Olympic gold medal in 2008. He has also won four Champions League titles among his many accomplishments on the world stage.
Messi joined Inter Miami last July, signing a contract for two-and-a-half seasons that pays him between US$50 million and $60 million annually. Inter Miami, now in its fifth season in MLS, was in last place in the Eastern Conference standings last season when Messi joined the team.
This season, Inter Miami has the best record in the league (7-2-3) and a league-best goal differential of plus-14. CF Montréal is in 11th place in the Eastern Conference with a 3-4-3 record, has a minus-7 goal differential and is coming off a 4-1 road loss to Nashville SC last Saturday.
Messi is coming off a record-breaking performance last Saturday when scored a goal and added five assists in a 6-2 win over the New York Red Bulls in Miami.
He set MLS records for most assists in a game and most goal contributions in a game. The week before, Messi scored two goals and added an assist in a 4-1 road victory over the New England Revolution in front of 65,612 fans at Gillette Stadium.
Heading into Saturday's game, Messi is tied with teammate Luis Suárez for the MLS lead in goals with 10 and he leads the league in assists with 12 despite missing four games with a hamstring injury. Messi has had a hand in 22 of Inter Miami's 32 goals this season.
The 37-year-old Suárez is a star in his own right. The Uruguayan striker was Messi's teammate for six seasons with Barcelona, during which they won four Spanish league championships and a Champions League title. Suárez also helped Uruguay advance to the World Cup semifinals in 2010 and win a Copa America title in 2011.
Adding to the Inter Miami star power is David Beckham, who purchased the club for $25 million in 2014. Beckham was the first worldwide star to join MLS as a player in 2007 when he left Real Madrid and joined the L.A. Galaxy, signing a five-year, $250-million deal.
On Wednesday, Sportico reported that with Messi Inter Miami is now the 18th-most valuable soccer team in the world at $1.02 billion, more than famous European clubs like West Ham, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Lyon, Ajax and Napoli. Manchester United is the most valuable, according to Sportico, at $6.2 billion.
Messi has been filling stadiums around MLS, including 72,610 fans at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium on April 14 when he scored a goal in a 3-2 win over Sporting Kansas City.
The capacity at Saputo Stadium is only 19,619, but on Thursday afternoon there were still plenty of tickets available for Saturday's game on the CF Montréal website and on ticket-resale websites like StubHub.
Jonah Presser, who is the director of communications for the vocal 1642MTL supporters group which occupies Section 114 at Saputo Stadium and rings the giant North Star Bell after each CF Montréal goal, believes the club out-priced the market for single-game tickets Saturday. Presser said his season ticket for all 17 games at Saputo Stadium — including Saturday's — cost him around $500.
“When it comes to the club setting the base price essentially for the tickets ... in our supporters section tickets usually cost $30 to $35 and for the Messi game the individual ticket was priced at $450 by the team,” Presser said. “It's crazy.”
CF Montréal capped season-ticket sales at 15,500 this season and jacked up the price of the remaining tickets for Saturday's game, hoping to cash in on Messi. There were plenty of tickets still available in Sections 112 through 116 behind one of the nets at Saputo Stadium on the club website Thursday afternoon, selling for $495 each.
Radhouane Rajhi is a fan who decided to buy season tickets for the first time this season, saying he paid about $1,200 for his two tickets, mainly because he wanted to see Messi.
“That influenced me a lot,” he said. He's also surprised to see what tickets are selling for now.
“I find it's expensive,” he said. “I thought they might go for around $300, but not more than that.”
Rajhi wasn't originally planning to resell his tickets, but said if someone would offer him $500 each he would.
Presser wouldn't be surprised to see some empty seats at Saputo Stadium on Saturday.
“I think there was an overestimation of the market,” he said. “We're still recovering from a huge economic crisis and people don't have that kind of money to spend on a two-hour game, regardless of who's playing.”