MLS Hopes Messi Will Boost Attendance, TV Viewers

CBS Miami

June 9, 2023

MIAMI - After two decades of competing against Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Brazil, Lionel Messi will be going against the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the NBA.

Major League Soccer is hoping for a breakout boost to its television audience and market share after Messi joins Inter Miami next month. Following Pelé's signing with the New York Cosmos in 1975 and David Beckham joining the LA Galaxy in 2007, Messi is expected to become the third supreme soccer evangelist in a nation where the sport has been playing catch-up for more than a century.

"Lionel Messi coming to MLS is an event that can't be replicated in any other way," former U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. "You've got one of the best players of all time, if not the best player of all time, coming on the heels of a World Cup win and worldwide popularity joining an American soccer league. That's just a fantastic, fantastic opportunity for the sport in the United States."

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