Messi Mania is coming to New Jersey.
Lionel Messi, considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time, will be making his Major League Soccer debut with his Inter Miami squad on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in a match against the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena in Harrison. With a record-setting crowd expected and millions of fans around the world tuning in to Apple TV’s exclusive coverage, New Jersey once again will be the center of the soccer universe.
The Garden State hasn’t seen such sweet soccer chaos since soccer immortal Pele was selling out Giants Stadium with the New York Cosmos in the 1970s and ‘80s.
Red Bull Arena has hosted Messi before — he played a friendly match here in September with the Argentina national team before its run to the 2022 World Cup title — but he is the biggest star to visit in decades. Red Bulls officials welcome the match as an opportunity to re-invigorate their team’s brand, which recently has slipped in popularity.
“This event will be one of the most unique soccer matches that’s ever occurred in the metro New York area,” club general manager Marc de Grandpre said in an interview with NJ Advance Media. “All eyes will be on Red Bull Arena, and we will be well-prepared and well-staffed to make sure it’s going to be the best experience for all fans who come to the arena.”
Messi has played five games in the states while leading Inter Miami to the championship of the CONCACAF Leagues Cup, a tournament that has included games against MLS teams. But this will be his first regular-season MLS match, and it’s not a coincidence that it’s happening here. With Messi’s move to Inter Miami expected, the MLS and Red Bulls “made sure our home match against Miami was in this latter part of our season at home,” de Grandpre said.
In other words: Welcome to New Jersey, Mr. Messi.
Weeks before Messi’s signing became official, the Red Bulls pulled the Inter Miami match’s ticket inventory offline. When the deal was done, the club opened ticket sales, but with a clever marketing strategy: Any fan buying a single-game ticket to the Inter Miami match had to buy tickets to three other Red Bull home games during the 2023 season.
Within 12 hours, the sold-out match set a record for gross gate revenue for a Red Bulls’ MLS regular-season game at Red Bull Arena, and the team’s season ticket sales for the 2024 season skyrocketed. While de Grandpre would not reveal specifics on the match’s sales, he called it a “multi-million-dollar increase” over the club’s previous MLS mark at their current home venue.
Fans hoping to purchase tickets on the secondary market will need a lot of cash. As of Tuesday, the cheapest ticket on StubHub was priced at $400 after taxes and fees. The priciest seat was listed for roughly $10,000.
A capacity crowd of 25,219 fans will be 8,000 more than the Red Bulls have averaged through their first 13 home games, which ranks 24th out of 29 teams in the league per SoccerStadiumDigest. It will be their first sellout since a match against rival New York City FC in July 2022 — 20 consecutive matches. And that sellout was the Red Bulls’ only MLS regular-season sellout at home in 65 matches since May 2018.
Fans will come from 10 different countries, 33 different states, every N.J. county but Cumberland, and all five New York City boroughs, according to Red Bulls data shared with NJ Advance Media. Roughly 400 media members from around the globe will be credentialed.
The stratospheric interest in the match had the club considering moving it to MetLife Stadium “for a hot second,” de Grandpre said, but that was quickly shot down. The Giants and Jets meet in a preseason game at the same time, and the Red Bulls wanted to reward loyal fans and long-standing partners.
Plus, the Red Bulls want any new soccer fans to create a memory at their stadium, “so they come back and eventually become fans and supporters of the New York Red Bulls, because we’re their local team that can offer them this 17-plus times a year,” de Grandpre said. “It is fitting that Messi will play his first official MLS match in the best soccer-specific stadium in North America.”
Still, MetLife Stadium is in the running for the 2026 World Cup championship match, with the biggest competition likely coming from the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — home of the Dallas Cowboys. Whether the region wins the final or not, officials have predicted roughly eight games at MetLife in East Rutherford.
But that’s the future; Messi is now — and when you host a megastar, you need to protect him, and the Red Bulls said a 75-member security team will be deployed around the field. Fans invading the pitch to hug players and take selfies has been a recent trend: How much time in county lockup would you be willing to spend for a selfie with a soccer great? Don’t even think about it, the Red Bulls warn.
“We know that fans, when there are stars on the field — and Lionel Messi is one of the most recognizable, most dominant figures in the world of sport — we know fans are going to want to get close to them, which some may try,” de Grandpre said. “We encourage everyone not to try. We want to make sure that no one can get to him and we keep him and our fans and every player on the pitch safe.”
Parking will be scarce, given the size of the crowd, so carpooling and public transit are encouraged. To lure fans to the stadium early, DJs will start the music two hours before kickoff. Pregame festivities will be highlighted by a performance by DMC of hip-hop group RUN DMC.
But the real show begins when Messi takes the field.
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Brian Fonseca may be reached at bfonseca@njadvancemedia.com.