Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, front right, scores a goal against the New York Red Bulls during an MLS soccer match at Red Bull Arena, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023, in Harrison, N.J. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
HARRISON, NJ — For your run-of-the-mill, Saturday night match starting at 7:30 p.m. ET at Red Bull Arena, the doors for the media won’t open until 6 p.m. Parking is ample, the tailgate scene in the lot is tame and sporadic, and the stadium for New York Red Bulls games is, at the very most, three-quarters full.
This Saturday, in particular though, brought Lionel Messi to a Major League Soccer match just 20 miles west of New York City — surging the No. 5-ranked sport in North America’s “Big 4” and an afterthought of the sport-crazed Big Apple to the forefront for one night only.
An immovable line of traffic began to queue roughly a mile-and-a-half away from the stadium four hours before kick-off. The normally empty lot was jammed with tents, flags, barbecues, and vendors — so many vendors. Rather than waving the customary red and white of the hosts, they shook pink Inter Miami tops emblazoned with the No. 10 on the back in the faces of any passerby. Forty dollars for one, but if you played hard to get, they’d quickly lower it to $30.
Granted there was plenty of pink and black — along with Argentinian Albiceleste — already being worn by spectators who had dished out hundreds or even thousands of dollars for the chance to get a glimpse of the World Cup champion, himself.
The Red Bulls opened up their media gate at 4:30 and those accustomed to breezing through security checks were met by a winding line of writers and photographers suddenly interested in MLS. By 6:45 p.m., the 25,000-seat stadium was at full capacity when the average attendance at the arena was just over 17,000. In fact, the officially-announced attendance for the night was a stadium-record 26,276.
This is the Messi effect — the seven-time Ballon d’Or…
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