The arrival of Lionel Messi in MLS continues to panic the United States. The price of tickets for Inter Miami meetings has experienced a gigantic inflation, to the point of making the all-powerful NFL blush.
You are on vacation in the United States, and you want to have a little fun by going to see Lionel Messi play? Prepare to have to take out a very big ticket…
The price of tickets for Inter Miami matches has skyrocketed since the arrival of the seven-time Ballon d’Or. And it’s even more visible when Floridians play away, as fans from other cities feel they have a unique opportunity to see the greatest player of his generation.
Case in point: For Inter Miami’s first away game in Dallas, the average ticket price jumped to $864, according to NBC. It’s almost twenty times more than the usual price to see the Texans play. Same thing in Philadelphia for the next date of Messi’s “tour”, in the Leagues Cup semi-final. Seats were sold out within minutes, and the average ticket, with resale, could exceed $600.
Messi attracts more than the NFL
To situate the Messi effect a little, the price of tickets for Inter Miami matches now quite clearly exceeds those of the king sport in the United States, American football. “Resale prices for Inter Miami home tickets ($282) are now higher than the average $251 fans paid for an NFL game last season, observes the Wall Street Journal. Inter Miami’s average away ticket price is $400, about 59% more than the average NFL game. »
However, two things must be remembered. That the NFL can afford XXL rates, since the seasons are quite short (17 regular season matches, or 8 or 9 home matches per team), the scarcity creating value. And you also have to remember that Inter Miami was one of the worst teams in MLS before Messi arrived. But that was before.
