Messi Mania has taken effect on Miami and soccer fans across the country since World Cup and golden boot winner Lionel Messi arrived in MLS. But 98.5 The Sports Hub host Mike Felger wondered what good Messi’s arrival has done in terms of growing the league’s audience domestically.
On Felger & Mazz Friday, Felger took issue with the fact that really the only way fans have been able to watch Messi play is by signing up for the MLS package on Apple TV+.
While billions across the globe have already seen the clip of Messi’s first goal for Inter Miami and Apple’s seen its subscriber numbers skyrocket because of it, Felger isn’t interested in anything that isn’t growing the U.S. audience.
“I only care about us. I don’t care about Apple’s business, and I don’t care about the fans in Germany of all places,” Felger said. “Go screw.”
It was pointed out to Felger that short attention spans dominate the landscape. It’s not so much about finding a way to tune in to see if Messi will score. For Felger, that is absolutely what it’s about for him. He’s cut the cord, but he hates that he has to juggle so many logins and has to add yet another to the list in order to watch MLS.
“I want to watch the game! I can see the clip. The clip I get, alright? The clip, the clip,” Felger said. “There’s an Instagram ass model who takes a shot of her butt crack and gets 3.4 billion views. Is it just the views? Don’t you want to watch the game?”
“If Messi were on my regular guide – the regular grid on YouTube TV which is what I got – or whatever, I’d watch it,” he added.
Felger wasn’t trying to discredit or downplay the success Messi has already had in the U.S. But he ultimately wants to see soccer in America continue to bring in new fans and sustain them. Messi’s tenure in Miami isn’t forever.
“I’m interested in the sport, and I’m interested in the sport in America. That’s my selfish thing,” he said. “I like the U.S. men’s team. I’d like to see the sport grow here where MLS gets bigger and we can talk about it. That’s my interest. I don’t know if Messi’s moved the needle on that.”
