Messi breaks records, his influence extends far beyond football

Lionel Messi's presence continues to bring significant changes to soccer in the United States. The Argentine superstar shines once again to help Inter Miami secure a victory, while also setting a new MLS attendance record.

Messi creates a sensation right from the opening round

To kick off the 2026 season, MLS scheduled the highlight match of Round 1 between Los Angeles FC and Inter Miami, where two global stars Son Heung-min and Messi appeared together. Capitalizing on the match's appeal, LAFC decided to move the venue from their familiar home stadium BMO Stadium to the iconic LA Memorial Coliseum, and this decision proved entirely correct.

The match on February 21 attracted 75,673 spectators, witnessing a 3-0 victory for the home team. This number set the record for the largest attendance for a MLS season-opening match, and contributed to creating the opening weekend with the highest total attendance in the league's history, as well as being the second-highest attended regular-season MLS match ever.

D.C. United also "follows the Messi effect"

D.C. United similarly applied the same approach by moving their match against Inter Miami from Audi Field (capacity 20,000 seats) to M&T Bank Stadium, the home stadium of the Baltimore Ravens football team.

The result was that 72,026 spectators came to the stadium last weekend, not only setting the attendance record in D.C. United's history, one of MLS's founding clubs, but also a new record for that stadium itself.

Previously, the M&T Bank Stadium record was set on January 15, 2012, when 71,547 spectators watched the NFL playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. After over 14 years, Messi broke this milestone, demonstrating his influence extends far beyond the scope of soccer.

Will Messi continue to set records?

Inter Miami will temporarily pause MLS to focus on the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 first-leg match against Nashville SC at Geodis Park midweek. Afterwards, Inter Miami will return to MLS as they visit Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium on March 14, in Round 3 of the season.

This stadium has a capacity of 74,867 seats, while the current attendance record is 74,479 people, set when Charlotte FC hosted LA Galaxy in their first home match in 2022.

However, Messi continuing to break records may not be easy. In recent seasons, Charlotte typically only opens the lower tier stands for MLS matches, instead of using the entire stadium. Even when Messi played in 2025, the club sold only about 35,000 tickets.

The only time Charlotte opened the entire stadium for a match featuring Messi, the attendance reached 66,101 people. Therefore, if this policy does not change, Messi's streak of away stadium attendance records may come to a halt.