New York City-area soccer fans hoping to watch Lionel Messi play in person when Inter Miami comes to Red Bull Arena had better get ready to pay big bucks.
The announcement Wednesday that the superstar free agent will be signing with Inter Miami already has spiked demand for tickets in a number of Major League Soccer markets, including New York.
The New York Red Bulls will host Miami on Aug. 26, and the cheapest ticket to get into the game was listed on SeatGeek at $438 at one point on Wednesday.
The ticket-selling site TickPick reported that the cheapest ticket they sold for the game before the news was $30 and that prices ballooned to $401 after.
New York City Football Club already hosted Inter Miami this season and will miss out on bringing the Messi craze to either Yankee Stadium or Citi Field, the two sites the MLS club uses as its home.
Messi’s first match with Inter Miami could come on July 21, when they face Mexican side Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup, but that isn’t set in stone.
The Argentine superstar could wait to make his debut until the MLS season resumes in mid-August after a monthlong break for the Leagues Cup Tournament ends.
That would mean one of Messi’s first MLS games would be at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. The Red Bulls’ home pitch will be somewhat familiar territory for Messi, who played a World Cup tune-up game with Argentina there in September.
Messi scored two goals in the match as Argentina defeated Jamaica 3-0 in the friendly.
The legendary footballer’s presence will do wonders, at least for one game, for the Red Bulls’ attendance at home this season. They are 24th among the 29-team league MLS in attendance with an average of 17, 237 fans.
The Red Bulls have endured a down year that cost their coach his job early in the season. New York is two points ahead of Miami in the standings.
While the spike in price and interest for the Aug. 26 game may bode well for the club, it hasn’t sat well with some Red Bulls fans.
One supporter wrote on Twitter “there goes that idea” about going to the game that day, with a screenshot of tickets listed at $500 for seats in section 226. While another Twitter user said “I would like to go see the Red Bulls this August 26…….” while sharing an image of Ticketmaster prices for the game.
Another supporter bemoaned that Messi’s arrival will “just raise ticket prices and stadiums will fill up with fake fans.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom as one Red Bulls season-ticket holder tweeted “I guess it’s all of a sudden “cool” that I have a Red Bull Season Ticket.”