Tiktekno, summary of today's events in sports, 20.2/Sport1
The soccer world was stunned when Leo Messi left Barcelona and ultimately decided to sign with Inter Miami, an American team that was quite unknown until his arrival, but very pretentious.
Messi came to Miami only in the middle of the season when it had a slim chance of qualifying for the playoffs and it is hard to say that he disappointed.
The Argentine scored in almost every game until his injury and also led it to win the League Cup.
But now, Messi will start the season with Miami, a season that will open on the night between Wednesday and Thursday at 3 am Israel time.
Messi will not be the only known star in Miami of course.
Jorde Alba and Sergio Busquets were joined by another familiar friend - Luis Suarez arrived after a very good season at Gremio and will try to cook for the Argentinian like in the good days in Barcelona.
And how is the frenzy surrounding Messi reflected in the US? Well, the "Messi Mania" is also expressed and especially in the ticket prices. The average price for a ticket for Miami's home game against Salt Lake is up to 185 dollars - a 585 percent increase compared to Miami's opening game last season Against Montreal (without Messi), then a ticket cost only around 27 dollars.
Continues to drive the US crazy. Lionel Messi/GettyImages
The cheapest price you can get for Miami's home opener is $95, up from $7 last season (an increase of 1,257 percent).
But Miami won't just profit from tickets.
According to reports in the US, the team has already brought in 150 times more merchandise sales compared to the start of last season and has become the most popular team in MLS, more than much older teams like the Los Angeles Galaxy and New England
"considering that Messi only joined Inter Miami at the end of the season passed, we expect that the 'Messi Mania' will still be in full force at the start of this season," Bert Goldberg, director of the ticket company TickPick, told CNN. By the way, the entry into the league of what many consider to be the best soccer player of all time, helps all the teams financially when According to the data, the average ticket price this season is 164 dollars compared to only 73 dollars last season.
But will Messi be able to fulfill the great expectations of ticket buyers and fans? In the preparation games, Messi played very little due to injury and his team took a six from Ronaldo's El Nasser (did not play) and a fourth from Al Hilal by Aleksandar Mitrovic. But friendlies are one thing and the league is another and with players like Messi, Suarez, Busquets and Alba, it's no wonder that Miami jumped to first place in the table of favorites to win this league championship, ahead of Columbus, Los Angeles , Cincinnati and Philadelphia of Thai Bribo.
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Argentina national team