Inter Miami fans are furious over the club’s massive price increase on 2024 season tickets.
The cheapest season ticket for the Major League Soccer team for 2023 cost $485, but that has now risen to almost double the price of $884. A ticket for the Midfield Club – a lower level seat – will cost $7,650 next season, up from $3,600 last year.
While supporters may have expected to pay more given the arrivals of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, they took to social media en masse on Thursday evening to vent their anger at the team.
“Fucking disrespectful to your loyal fans,” one supporter raged at X. “My 2023 subscription plan was $485 and that has now been increased to $884.
“We still don’t have a proper stadium and the improvement in playing quality does not reflect the 82% price increase.”
Inter Miami season ticket prices are skyrocketing now that Lionel Messi is playing for the club
The cheapest season ticket that Miami will now sell to see Messi play has increased by 82 percent
Another wrote: ‘I just looked up my bill from last season and I see an 83% increase. Last season they also offered a 10 month payment plan. The extension has eight. This is the price of loyalty in Miami.”
One supporter claimed to have been quoted five times as much for the same tickets for next season: ‘Try five times as much! Paid $2,200 this season, listed $10,710. I enjoyed it while it lasted.’
A fan of rival MLS team Austin added: “Recall that Inter Miami still plays in a pretty bad temporary stadium 30 miles from downtown Miami.
“The league has to step in at some point to stop the madness. If you treat the fans like that, in a few years that new stadium will be empty when Messi leaves.”
In the English Premier League, Tottenham has the most expensive season ticket at $2,500. Manchester United’s most expensive season ticket costs $1,237 and Manchester City – the Premier League champions and Champions League holder – has the highest price at $1,277.
Season tickets in the NFL can cost up to $4,500 for eight regular-season home games, while in the NBA, season ticket packages can cost up to $90,000 with teams playing at home 41 times.
However, Miami seems determined to cash in on the excitement surrounding Messi. Premium seats for a Miami game go up to $45,000.
According to the Miami Herald, the team called its season ticket holders “the heartbeat of Inter Miami” in the email to fans announcing the cost increase.
The 36-year-old Messi came to Miami in June on a two-and-a-half-year contract with an option for a third.
He is expected to earn between $50 million and $60 million annually in Major League Soccer, in a deal partly funded by Adidas, through shirt sales, and Apple TV’s global subscription deal with MLS.
Miami has been contacted for comment on the price increase, which was announced a day after the team lost the US Open Cup final to Houston Dynamo.
Messi missed that match due to injury, with the World Cup star struggling to recover from a scar tissue problem. He missed the previous match, a 1-1 draw with Orlando in the MLS, and was only able to play 37 minutes of the game before.
But when Messi played, he was sensational. He led Miami to the Leagues Cup trophy in his first few weeks with the team, scoring eleven goals in twelve games and providing five assists.
Miami will next play New York City FC, the team that occupies the last play-off spot in the Eastern Conference, on Saturday evening at the DRV PNK Stadium.
For Miami, fourteenth in the standings and five points behind NYCFC, it is a must-win game.
