As Major League Soccer gears up for its second season with global superstar Lionel Messi, the league’s commissioner is facing plenty of questions about the future of the MLS and how it will continue to leverage the World Cup champion’s star power.
Inter Miami and MLS saw an increased interest after the eight-time Ballon d’Or announced he would be coming to the US last June and Sports Business Journal reported earlier this month that MLS Season Pass – the league’s streaming service – exceeded two million subscriptions.
“It’s important to remind ourselves and everybody else that having arguably the best player of all time in our league says a lot about where MLS is, and how far it’s come over the years,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in an interview with ESPN. “And I don’t think Miami is stopping, right? Signing Luis Suárez and putting together a bunch of guys that Leo has played with for so many years, I think is fun. It’s exciting. And I think we’re going to see just more energy, and lots more attention in Year 2.”
American soccer has long been viewed as behind the rest of the world’s domestic leagues, particularly in Europe and parts of Central and South America.
But Messi’s arrival helped boost the profile of MLS three years ahead of the World Cup being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, with the final slated to be played at MetLife Stadium.
Garber told ESPN that the growth of the MLS wasn’t predicated on continuing to sign massive names, but rather about developing competitive teams to continue the league’s rivalry with Mexico.
“This is more about a long-term plan to grow the competitiveness of our league and the popularity of our teams and each club, and this is the key part of it: each club has got to decide how best that’s going to work for them,” he said.
Teams have attempted to leverage Messi’s presence in the MLS for their own growth, especially the select clubs that were lucky enough to host Inter Miami last season after the Argentine arrived stateside.
Red Bulls general manager Marc de Grandpre told The Post last year that one of the club’s biggest priorities was getting people back to Red Bull Arena after they made the pilgrimage to see Messi take on the Red Bulls last August.
Garber told ESPN that he had no concerns that Messi was overshadowing the rest of the league and equated his tremendous branding to that of the Yankees or Cowboys.
“We’re trying to always open up our team and our league to those people that are fans of the sport that might not yet be fully committed to our clubs, and getting people here and around the world to follow MLS and experience it is a positive,” Garber said.
“Our job is to convert those fans into being passionate supporters of our league and our clubs. And if we have a brand that has global recognition like Inter Miami does, that’s a positive. And I think you see that with clubs that are resonating around the world in all leagues.
He added: “And now it’s up to all of us to take that experience and spend time convincing all those new fans that MLS can really be important to their soccer connection, so I’m not concerned about it at all.”
