World's most expensive season ticket - Messi's arrival sees prices soar at Inter Miami
Cameron Smith
- 29 Sept 2023 09:51 BST
- 4 min read
Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami has garnered more attention than any other transfer in the past 10 years, with the world’s biggest celebrities regularly turning up to watch him play.
His debut for the club saw the likes of LeBron James, Serena Williams and Kim Kardashian in attendance, while Inter Miami fans were seen leaving in their thousands when Messi went off injured in the 37th minute of their 4-0 win against Toronto on 21 September.
Messi has not played since, although Gerardo Martino, Inter Miami’s head coach, has insisted that he will be back before the end of the regular MLS season in late October.
READ MORE: Lionel Messi at Inter Miami - Goals, assists, results & fixtures in 2023
However, despite his recent injury lay-off, Inter Miami have benefitted massively from his arrival. On the pitch, he helped deliver their first ever piece of silverware thanks to victory in Leagues Cup, while Messi has brought a huge level of commercial revenue to the club.
An authentic Inter Miami home shirt with ‘Lionel Messi 10’ printed on the back costs $159.99 on the club’s website, while their season ticket prices are simply eye-watering.
Twitter user @MichaelRyanRuiz recently posted on X: “My 2023 season ticket plan was $6,802.00 for two seats. The price they quoted to retain my seats is $30,600.00.
READ MORE: PSG are already better without Messi and Neymar
“This makes Inter Miami the most expensive soccer ticket in the world with what I can only assume is the biggest year over year price increase ever. Outrageous.”
He later replied to state that: “Inter Miami reached out to me. I explained my situation and the reason for the inflated price is because an error in their system added additional seats if they had previously relocated. So my quote was double what it should have been.”
Even so, it means two Inter Miami season tickets for the 2024 season cost $15,300, or $7,650 each.
The club have paid top dollar to secure Messi’s services (a reported base salary of $54 million per year) and season ticket prices for 2024 are now more than double what they were this year as a result.
What is the most expensive Premier League season ticket?
By comparison, the most expensive season ticket in the Premier League for the 2023-24 season is £3,000 ($3,671). As per research conducted by The Athletic, that is for a seat in the newly-built Riverside Stand at Fulham’s Craven Cottage, and there are far cheaper options available.
Inter Miami are currently 14th in the MLS Eastern Conference (out of 15 teams), while the team currently 14th in the Premier League is Chelsea; the most expensive season ticket available to buy at Stamford Bridge is £940 ($1,150) - more than $6,000 cheaper than a regular season ticket at Inter Miami.
