a holiday deal offered by the Red Bulls football team includes some merchandise, such as a travel mug, as well as tickets to two games, including the first home game.
But there is some fine print. The Major League Soccer schedule is not released until the end of the year, and if the home game is against Inter Miami, fans who buy the package will instead get tickets to the second home game.
The reason is Lionel Messi.
Miami is Messi’s team, the global superstar, and a chance to see him is far more enticing than a random match against, say, Toronto FC. Every time he comes to town it will be an event, and teams don’t want that. Just throw a golden ticket into a package deal.
Some Red Bulls fans who saw the fine print became irritated and expressed that words like ‘guts’ were common on social media. But at least a few others Shrugged as a smart business move. “It’s just naive to expect the league isn’t going to take advantage of this at all costs,” said Dan Rodriguez, a Red Bulls fan from Westchester County, N.Y.
The Red Bulls did not respond to a question about the ticket offer. Even if fans lose the Messi match, the deal still includes a match against the team’s regional rival, NYCFC. And because there are 29 MLS teams, the chances that the first match will actually be against Miami and Messi are slim.
But teams across the league see a goldmine in Messi. Not every team has set the full price yet, especially since the schedule hasn’t been announced yet. But the Columbus crew is charging at least $382 for the home game against Miami and $421 and $679 for better seats. In contrast, tickets for regular Crew games this year were on sale for as little as $40 or less as part of a season ticket package.
Dynamic pricing is not uncommon in MLS or other sports. A big game against a rival might cost a little more, but not several hundred dollars more.
Miami itself does to upload between 46 percent and 82 percent more for standard season tickets than this year, when Messi arrived mid-season. Cheaper packages now cost around $800 for 17 games, and other season tickets cost $4,000, $7,000 or even $10,000 for club access seats.
This makes Miami one of the most expensive season tickets in the world. The most expensive season ticket for Tottenham, in the English Premier League, costs $2,498, and for Barcelona it is $1,021. World Soccer Talk reported.
Messi signed for Miami in July, when tickets had already sold out. That meant fans who already had tickets to his games could benefit from a resale, while no extra money flowed to the teams. For next year, teams have time to plan and get a share of that profit for themselves.
Buying a season ticket to see another team scheduled to play Miami is one way to see Messi. Fans who do will enjoy seeing Messi when he comes to town, or flip their tickets on the secondary market for a big payday.
Of course, that’s assuming Messi plays. He’ll be 37 during the MLS season and has missed a number of games this year due to a scar tissue condition. When he didn’t play, many fans, some of whom paid a lot of money to see him, grumbled.
After missing an October game in Chicago that sold 61,000 tickets, the Chicago Fire offered a $250 credit to season ticket holders and $50 to single-game purchasers as compensation.
MLS teams across the country expect packed houses with fans in expensive seats in 2024, and no refunds.
