A young fan wearing Lionel Messi’s Argentina jersey cheers prior to the MLS match between Houston … [+] Dynamo FC and Inter Miami at Shell Energy Stadium on Sunday. Messi did not make the trip to play for Miami. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
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Lionel Messi never stops accomplishing amazing things or posting amazing numbers. And his latest feat hasn’t even required him to step on the field.
With the decision to leave Messi back in South Florida for Sunday night’s clash at the Houston Dynamo, the mere presence of Messi on the roster has now helped to sell more than 400,000 tickets in 12 Inter Miami away games in which he hasn’t played.
The exact aggregate paid attendance across those games is 406,864, or an average of 33,905 per match.
In about half of those, Messi was out due to an injury concern that could not have been forseen when many attendees initially purchased their tickets. In a few others – including Sunday – the eight-time Ballon d’or winner was left home for load management as Miami battled a more congested stretch of its schedule.
And in three cases, fans who came because they thought Argentina’s superstar would be there really should’ve done better research and known Messi was likely to be away with the Argentina national team at the 2024 Copa America. But even in those, it definitely appears the mere suggestion of Messi had a legitimate impact on ticket sales.
Houston continues the trend
Houston’s attendance Saturday night was actually one of the lowest of the 12 matches attended – a factor mainly of the small confines at Shell Energy Stadium, not local ticket demand.
Here are the incredible game-by-game numbers (with the team’s average attendance that season listed in parentheses):
Attendance at Messi MLS Road No-Shows
- September 24, 2023: Orlando – 25,527 (20,590)
- October 4, 2023: Chicago – 62,124 (15,848)
- March 16, 2024: D.C. United – 19,365 (18,137)
- March 23, 2024: NY Red Bulls – 25,219 (20,146)
- May 15, 2024: Orlando – 25,046 (22,804)
- May 25, 2024: Vancouver – 51,035 (26,121)
- June 15, 2024: Philadelphia – 19,513 (18,845)
- June 29, 2024: Nashville – 30,109 (28,587)
- July 3, 2024: Charlotte – 47,218 (35,141)
- July 6, 2024: Cincinnati – 25,513 (25,237)
- August 31, 2024: Chicago – 55,385 (21,328)
- March 2, 2025: Houston – 20,810 (19,717)
Total: 406,864
Average: 33,905
Sure, not everyone in the building on those occasions was there to see Messi, but those games averaged an attendance north of 10,000 above the average attendance in a run-of-the-mill MLS game. And if anything, that average is depressed by the smaller venues used by the Red Bulls, Orlando and Houston.
Houston is one of a few teams that has felt it necessary to compensate potentially disappointed fans, in their case by offering a complimentary ticket to a future Dynamo match. After their 2023 disappointment, the Fire offered fans a potential credit ahead of time in 2024.
It’s hard to know what make of these numbers aside from the reality that Messi has become a singularly magnetic character within the sport. That, and that his Chicago-based fans deserve a whole lot of sympathy, have twice purchased more than 50,000 tickets only to be spurned twice for injury reasons.
Can’t win for losing
Perhaps the biggest downer of all has been MLS teams’ inability to take advantage of Messi’s absence by at least earning a comprehensive victory, and potentially giving those who came to see Messi a reasson to return to see the local club.
Of late, the Herons have won nearly as often without him as with him. In the last calendar year, only 50,732 away fans who have seen Miami play an MLS match without Messi have seen a home-team win. Nearly five times that many – 243,435 fans total – had had the misfortune on missing out on Messi when the Herons come to town and seeing the home side lose anyway.
Inter Miami’s next 6 MLS away games
March 16: Atlanta United
April 13: Chicago Fire
April 19: Columbus Crew
May 10: Minnesota United
May 14: San Jose Earthquakes
May 24: Philadelphia Union
The good news for out-of-Miami Messi fans is that – so far – there are no direct schedule clashes between the Argentina national team schedule and the Herons’ itinerary. The bad news is that Miami’s continental commitments in the Concacaf Champions Cup – ostensibly the reason he missed Sunday’s game – could go on as long as June 1, with the FIFA Club World Cup to follow not long after. There will be an especially intense focus toward keeping Messi healthy the closer that CWC approaches.
There are six more away MLS matches over that span. And fans in all six of those markets probably shouldn’t feel super confident that if they buy a ticket, they will see the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner on the field.
