Why Lionel Messi’s decision to join MLS shouldn’t come as a major surprise

They’re the six words that instantly changed the trajectory of Major League Soccer.

“I’m going to go to Miami.”

So said Lionel Messi in an interview with Spanish sports dailies Mundo Deportivo and Sport on Wednesday, thus signalling his intention to sign with MLS club Inter Miami CF.

Messi, who turns 36 on June 24, became soccer’s biggest free agent when he recently parted company with Paris Saint-Germain. Rather than cash in by accepting a deal from Saudi club Al Hilal worth a reported $500 million a year, or giving in to sentimentality by returning “home” to FC Barcelona, the Argentine ace opted for an entirely different adventure in the warm and sunny climes of South Beach.

His decision to turn down a lucrative offer from Barcelona, where he originally shot to fame early in his career, didn’t go over too well with the Blaugrana. Not accustomed to being turned down by marquee players, and certainly not in favour of MLS, the Spanish outfit released a rather salty statement after Messi announced his decision.

“President [Joan] Laporta understood and respected Messi’s decision to want to compete in a league with fewer demands, further away from the spotlight and the pressure he has been subject to in recent years,” the statement read in part. 

Barcelona’s pride had been wounded, so you can somewhat forgive their insufferable condescension. But clearly, the Catalans haven’t been paying close enough attention because Messi’s decision shouldn’t come as a major surprise. 

This is not the same MLS that modestly launched in 1996 with 10 teams. What was once a minor circuit in the soccer world has grown into a destination league for some of the game’s biggest stars. MLS is a league that can both spend big and lure big-name players who still have some gas left in the tank (see Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne at Toronto FC), not just aging veterans on their last legs looking for one final pay cheque.

Is Major League Soccer on par with La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A or the English Premier League? No. But there’s no question that MLS has grown exponentially in its 27 years, to the point where it has 29 teams across the U.S. and Canada — with a 30th on the way — and boasts a $2.5 billion broadcast deal with Apple.

What MLS does lack is global brand recognition. For all the progress the league has made on and off the pitch, it still has to feed off table scraps when it comes to getting mainstream coverage from the U.S. cable networks and the American sports media. Fans in Europe accustomed to watching their clubs compete in the UEFA Champions League on a regular basis turn up their noses on MLS and consider it a minor league.

When Pele joined the New York Cosmos in 1975, the North American Soccer League was similarly fighting for respect. But the Brazilian’s arrival in the U.S. was a game-changer for the league. More international stars soon followed him to the NASL, a slew of expansion clubs popped up, media interest grew, and the quality of the product improved. The Cosmos played before sellout crowds at Giants Stadium and were the talk of a town where the Yankees had reigned supreme.

MLS is banking that Messi can do the same, and there’s every reason to believe he can deliver what the league needs him to do. The diminutive magician is barely six months removed from leading Argentina to glory at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar where a massive global TV audience watched on. At PSG, he scored 21 goals and tallied 20 assists in 41 games in all competitions during the 2022-23 campaign. By his incredibly high standards, his final season at PSG was viewed as disappointing — for any other player, those kinds of numbers would constitute a career year.

With 468 million followers, Messi has a bigger Instagram presence than LeBron James (154 million), and he has sponsorship ties with Adidas, Anheuser-Busch, Gatorade, Louis Vuitton, MasterCard and Pepsi. His arrival will only further boost the MLS brand both at home and abroad, raising the league’s public profile beyond its wildest dreams.

“Stadiums are going to sell out… I think people will be buying season tickets now just to see Messi. What an opportunity for this part of the world,” Canadian men’s team coach John Herdman offered. 

And while David Beckham had a similar effect when he joined the LA Galaxy in 2007, this is much different. For all the pomp and circumstance surrounding him, Beckham was nowhere near in the same class as Messi in terms of what he produced on the pitch. The Argentine is pure highlight reel material in a digital age where going viral matters so much. He is the best player of his generation — arguably of all time — and one of the greatest sportsmen in the world, something that Beckham could never claim. 

The timing of all of this is perfect. The FIFA World Cup, the biggest and most-watched sporting event on the planet — even more so than the hallowed Olympics — is set to be co-hosted by Canada, the United States and Mexico in 2026. Messi’s presence in MLS essentially serves as a three-year infomercial for that World Cup, while simultaneously promoting the league and the sport in the buildup to the big event as Canada and its neighbours prepare to welcome the world.

With the World Cup in the U.S. just three years away, this is exactly the type of singing that MLS needed. It’ll lead to more interest in the league and likely more cities vying for expansion clubs.

“I think MLS is just growing and growing and growing,” Herdman said. “Every year you see new teams, better facilities, a better standard of play, a more competitive style of play. We’ve seen the Italians (Insigne and Bernardeschi) arrive at Toronto FC. You’ve seen Messi now, hopefully, coming into a club that he’ll transform — the fan base, he’ll transform the interest. I think it’s an absolute coup for MLS.”

John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.

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