MIAMI — More than 2,000 soccer industry stakeholders from 80 countries gathered at the Mana Wynwood Convention Center Tuesday for the Soccerex conference, just blocks from the massive Lionel Messi murals that welcomed the Argentine star to Inter Miami five months ago.
Messi’s impact on Major League Soccer was among the many topics discussed at the convention, which runs through Wednesday.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Apple Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue, a Miami native, told the audience that more than a million people had watched Messi’s matches on Season Pass Apple MLS.
Cue later added in an interview with the Miami Herald: “More than a million people watched Messi’s matches live, the regular season and the Leagues Cup matches, which is incredible when you compare it to other sports, leaving aside the NFL and college football.”
Cue said Apple, which signed a 10-year, $2.5 billion streaming deal with MLS last year, saw significant increases in MLS Season Pass subscriptions in Argentina and Brazil after Messi joined the league and Mexico before and during the League Cup. As summer ended, Apple saw an increase in viewers from the United Kingdom, France, and other European countries.
“This was our first season and we wanted to make sure we gave the MLS fans we had here in the United States the best experience in the world, the one-click ability to watch every MLS game without interruption ” Cue said. “We thought we would only expand internationally later, and obviously we accelerated that, thanks to Messi.”
Xavi Asensi, Inter Miami’s chief commercial officer, spoke on The Messi Effect and said the club is forecasting $200 million in revenue in 2024, more than triple what it was before Messi’s arrival. Messi. “Night and day,” he said.
Cue and Garber said that as next season approaches, initiatives are planned to attract even more viewers outside the United States.
“We are a league that plays in a global sport that has fans and viewers on a global scale, and the only way to achieve this in an accelerated manner is through a global partnership, easily accessible to fans around the world whole,” Garber said. . “You add to that the most important player in the history of the game. It gives us energy behind this vast global strategy.
Other topics discussed at the conference were the upcoming 2024 Copa America and the 2026 World Cup, both of which will take place in the United States, with the World Cup being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada . Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens will host World Cup matches and will likely also host the Copa America, although those venues have not yet been announced.
The Copa America, from June 20 to July 15, will bring together the 10 countries of South America and the six best teams from CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean).
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who wore an Inter Miami jersey for his welcome speech, highlighted how South Florida has become a key player in the world of football. Along with Messi’s arrival, FIFA recently opened a headquarters in Coral Gables that will house 300 employees, and CONCACAF headquarters is in downtown Miami.
Among the many networking entrepreneurs at soccerex were two with ties to Inter Miami: former player Brek Shea and Gaby Mas, daughter of team co-owner Jorge Mas.
Shea and former U.S. national team teammate Geoff Cameron hope to launch a soccer-specific training center in South Florida for amateur to elite players who want to get in top shape and are between teams or do not have access to football-specific coaches and physiotherapists.
Mas, 27, is the founder of (re)boot, a fashion line that focuses on upcycling and recycling used football equipment to combat textile waste. Mas played soccer at Carrollton School and Pinecrest Premier and noticed she had a closet full of old jerseys that were going to waste. She saw the same problem on a larger scale around the Inter Miami technical room and decided to take action.
Mas has a Masters in Service Design from the Royal College of Art in London and contacted the club to reuse surplus materials to make match-worn jerseys and training shirts which could be resold. She is now allowed to do the same throughout MLS. On Tuesday, it announced a partnership with Avery Dennison, which will provide jock tags on each jersey, integrating technology that will provide an interactive digital experience for fans through their mobile devices.
“Now it’s about raising awareness and getting funds, so we can collect enough material and reuse it to sell as official merchandise, which would be the first recycled official merchandise for fans of the league,” Mas said. “I want to involve people in recycling and the circular economy.”
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