‘Let’s drop Messi into the mix’: how Miami became the US sports capital

Finance and tech companies have flocked to Miami in recent years, but for many residents the moment that defined the US city as the place to be was when football legend Lionel Messi wheeled a trolley through a Publix grocery store.

The arrival of Messi — the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner and Argentina’s World Cup hero who was spotted in the popular Florida grocery chain last week — has confirmed Miami as the most important US city in sport.

Messi’s debut with Inter Miami on Friday follows a sports renaissance in south Florida. Miami has joined the annual Formula 1 motor racing circuit; its basketball and hockey franchises have made championship appearances this spring; and since college athletes two years ago gained the right to earn money in sponsorships and endorsements, the University of Miami’s sportspeople have enjoyed a bonanza.

“The city feels so much different today than it did several years ago,” said Don Garber, commissioner of Major League Soccer.

Fifa, football’s global governing body, is in now talks to lease property in Miami, according to a person familiar with the matter, as it looks to establish a US headquarters ahead of the 2026 World Cup. CONCACAF, the football federation for North and Central America and the Caribbean, is already based in the city.

Sports executives credited Miami’s sports boom to its unique demographics as a US city with deep ties to Latin America, along with a recent surge in white-collar migration that has swelled consumer spending.

“It was never perceived as a good corporate sports market, because there weren’t as many corporate headquarters there,” Garber said. He described Messi’s decision to join Inter Miami as “rocket fuel” for the still-expanding Major League Soccer, and said the club was expected to outperform rival US teams for individual sponsorships.

Messi’s arrival is a coup for MLS, but the jubilant mood extends much further. Executives across town have been blown away by the recent performance of the city’s sports teams and events.

“I’ve been here since 1997, and I’ve seen it all, from championships to years we’d rather forget,” said Michael McCullough, chief marketing officer for Miami Heat, the city’s basketball team. “What we are experiencing now is that everybody is having success at the same time . . . And now for shits and giggles let’s drop Leo Messi into the mix.”

Long before a Miami team could contemplate hiring a legend like Messi, Miami had to expand beyond its roots as a solidly American football town. In 2008, real estate billionaire Stephen Ross bought the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, a team best known for having a perfect season in 1972 but which had long since languished.

A few years later, a friendly football match between Mexican team Chivas and Barcelona, hosted in Miami, drew more than 70,000 fans — solidifying for Ross the idea of investing in global sporting events in what is sometimes known as the northern capital of Latin America.

“When you think about sports that have an incredible following in the rest of the world, it’s clear that Miami is the perfect American city to lead,” he told the Financial Times.

“It is the international reach and demographic. I know we talk about great American sports cities, but in Miami it’s a totally different idea.”

Nearly 70 per cent of residents in Miami-Dade County identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to the US Census, and for decades the area has been a haven for migration from the Caribbean and South America, where sporting tastes extend beyond gridiron.

Ross’s Relevent Sports Group, founded in 2012, has since brought summer tours of top clubs from Spain’s La Liga and England’s Premier League to the US.

A bid to buy Formula 1 racing outright in 2015 failed, but Ross has established Miami on the Grand Prix circuit, building a temporary course around the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium. He also managed to lure tennis’ Miami Open to Hard Rock from Key Biscayne in 2019. 

All told, Ross has invested “several hundred million” dollars into F1 and the Miami Open, as well as between $50mn and $150mn a year to host football events in the US, said a person familiar with the matter.

“While [Messi’s arrival] is an incredible moment for South Florida and soccer,” Ross said, “I continue to believe fans here want more European football and to see the game at its highest level.”

The professional sports industry has evolved to cater to a new, wealthier clientele as large swaths of the tech and finance industries relocated to Miami during the pandemic. 

“There is an influx of new money, a younger group of people, who want to experience what Miami has to offer,” said McCullough.

Management cannot keep up with demand for premium seating at the Kaseya Center — formerly the FTX Arena after the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, an emblem of the boom-and-bust crypto era. McCullough said: “There is a willingness to spend what it takes”.

Miami Heat is coveted on the court, too: Damian Lillard, the top free agent in this summer’s NBA transfer window, will reportedly only accept a move to the team.

Now Messi’s presence is poised to inflate demand for MLS fixtures and merchandise. Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas told CNBC that revenues for the club are expected to double over the next year, as ticket prices for Messi’s first appearance in the club’s pink jersey on Friday soared to more than $300.

Outside the sports bubble there is plenty to keep south Floridians up at night, from being the battleground for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential campaign to the dire potential impact of climate change on the region.

But within sport, the picture is rosy. “When you are in Miami you can easily feel like you are in Barcelona or Mexico City or Buenos Aires,” said Garber, the MLS commissioner. “It’s the perfect dynamic to capture the minds of people who already love the game.”