Messi Mania helps drive record growth for MLS

Boosted by the Messi Effect, Major League Soccer hit record attendance marks and saw expanded sponsorship revenue this season.

With the conclusion of the regular season, MLS on Tuesday reported a 5% increase in attendance over last year with a league-wide total of 11.45 million. That’s a 14% increase over 2022.

Two matches exceeded 70,000 fans and five matches exceeded 50,000. In an April match at Arrowhead Stadium, there were 72,610 on hand to watch Lionel Messi and Inter Miami play Sporting Kansas City.

The average was a league-record 23,234 per match. Ten teams set or exceeded attendance records and there were a record 213 sellouts. Even if Messi’s road matches were excluded, the average attendance figures would still be an MLS best.

MLS is expecting that close to 12 million fans will attend this season’s games through the playoffs, which start this week.

There’s no doubt the league’s superstar attraction is Messi, the clear front-runner for the league’s MVP award this season. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has 20 goals and 10 assists in just 19 matches this season. Inter Miami won the Supporters Shield for having the best record in the regular season with 74 points, one more than New England when it set the record in 2021.

“He’s definitely helped put us in front of a global audience, and he’s definitely piqued the interest of sports fans in our country,” said Chris McGowan, head of the club performance and optimization group at MLS. “Our clubs have done an unbelievable job of taking advantage of that and understanding that players don’t play forever. We have the best ever playing in our league, so we got to be on our toes to be able to take advantage of it.”

But while Messi is certainly a big part of the league’s growth after his arrival at Inter Miami last year, McGowan cited other factors as well, including the fan experience at the league’s stadiums, spurred by enthusiastic supporters’ groups.

“People are now seeing just an awesome environment when they go to our games across the league,” McGowan said. “The crowds are energetic. There’s a lot of great things happening in the venue. It’s just a fun time on a Saturday night and people are really taking notice of that.”

The league success this season isn’t only at the box office level.

MLS also reported Tuesday that MLS and the league’s marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing, have seen a 13% year-to-date rise in sponsorship revenue, which is the same increase at the individual club level. Eighteen new sponsors have joined MLS this year.

The league is also growing its social media reach, with a 26% jump in followers on TikTok, a 21% increase on YouTube and a 10% increase on Instagram.

The postseason opens Tuesday night with a wild-card match between Atlanta United and Montreal — the winner of that game goes on to play Messi and Miami in the first round.

The Portland Timbers host Vancouver in the other wild-card match on Wednesday.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer