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Messi's Leagues Cup victory gains impressive audience

Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi (10) waves after winning the Leagues Cup against Nashville SC at GEODIS Park. Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Lionel Messi's Leagues Cup victory racks up impressive viewing figures

By Alyssa Clang | Last updated 8/23/23

While professional soccer's popularity has grown significantly in the United States, most of that growth has been fueled by teams in England, Italy, Spain and Mexico, not from homegrown organizations such as Major League Soccer.

But viewing figures from this summer's Leagues Cup show that interest in American soccer is on the rise.

The Sports Business Journal reported in July that Lionel Messi's American debut with Inter Miami against Cruz Azul drew a television audience of 2.8M viewers on Univision/TUDN — a figure that doesn't count the thousands of people who watched the game through Apple TV, MLS's official broadcast partner.

While the number set a record for the highest-viewed MLS-Liga MX match of all time, many assumed interest in Messi (and the Leagues Cup in general) would fall steeply as the tournament progressed.

However, 1.759M people tuned in to Univision/TUDN to see Messi and Inter Miami's victory against Nashville SC on Sunday. While Apple TV has been quiet about viewing figures on its own platform, we do know that Messi's arrival has increased sign-ups to Apple TV's MLS Season Pass by 75% and that it's rapidly approaching the threshold of 1M paid subscribers.

The Leagues Cup final drew 1.759m viewers on Univisión/TUDN. With the streaming numbers from Apple TV this surely broke 1996 MLS Cup final of 3.1m viewers.

Some thought without an Liga MX team in the final that the viewership wouldn’t be nearly as strong.

MLS is growing! pic.twitter.com/CNJnHa8xau
— MLS Moves (@MLSMoves) August 22, 2023

This increased viewership is a massive jump for MLS. Last season's Champions League final — the biggest game in the European calendar — drew an American audience of 2.1M on CBS.

With Messi's Leagues Cup performances surpassing (and likely dwarfing) that figure with the addition of AppleTV viewers, that means viewership for MLS outstripped interest in foreign soccer in the U.S. for the first time since David Beckham's arrival in 2007.

MLS' challenge over the rest of its season is to keep that interest flowing, even if Messi and Miami aren't able to qualify for the postseason. They're currently last the East, with 20 points between them and a guaranteed playoff berth.

The league was unable to capitalize long term on Beckham's popularity, but higher-ups within MLS believe they've learned their lesson from that failure. Their solution? Enjoy Messi mania, but focus on building long-term fanbases in crucial markets, too.

"It is the responsibility of the local clubs to build their fanbases," MLS commissioner Don Garber said via ESPN.com. "The league is not going to tell them what to do when somebody else comes to town.

"We've had so many great players in the history of our league. It's not just about that one player. It's about: how do you feel about your club, and can that player give you something that might make it a little more special?"

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