Inter Miami tickets on sale for £16k as fans scramble to catch glimpse of Lionel Messi & club add 3,000 seats to stadium
INTER MIAMI tickets are being sold for £16,000 following the signing of Lionel Messi.
The Argentine, 35, confirmed last week he had agreed a deal with David Beckham’s MLS side despite interest from Barcelona and Saudi Arabia.
He is expected to make his debut in Miami‘s Leagues Cup match against Cruz Azul on July 21.
And according to The Miami Herald, tickets for the match have increased a remarkable 1,034 per cent – with the most expensive listed on StubHub for £16,000.
Miami are also planning to increase the size of their stadium to 22,000 by August – an increase of 3,000 as they look to deal with the demand Messi will bring.
The average listed resale prices for Miami’s away matches have also increased by 1,000 per cent.
The 10,000 tickets for Charlotte FC’s clash at home to Miami were sold in three hours.
And the biggest-attended club in the MLS, Atlanta United, will be selling 71,000 tickets when they host Miami at their Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Jeffbet.com have reported that searches for “Inter Miami tickets” have increased by 13,057 since Messi’s arrival, with interest in the club skyrocketing since the South American put pen to paper.
Messi, who will join Miami when his Paris Saint-Germain contract expires at the end of the month, confirmed his decision to move to the US earlier this month.
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But he also admitted his first choice destination was Barcelona, only for their financial difficulties to get in the way of his return.
He told Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo: “I’ve taken the decision that I am going to Miami. [I decided] to leave Europe.”
Messi then went on to add: “It’s true that I had offers from another European team but I didn’t even think about it because in Europe, my idea was only to go to Barcelona.
“After winning the World Cup and not being able to go to Barca, it’s time to go to MLS to live football in a different way and enjoy my day to day life more.
“Obviously with the same responsibility and desire to win, and to do things well, but with more calm.”