The chance to see Lionel Messi play in person has made the Red Bulls’ match Saturday night against visiting Inter Miami one of the hottest tickets in town.
Ticket prices have skyrocketed for the MLS match, which fans were able to get into at one point for just $46.
Now tickets for the game are averaging $496, according to ticket reseller Vivid Seats.
Saturday will mark Messi’s debut during the MLS regular season, which has been on pause for the Leagues Cup tournament.
His regular-season debut had been expected to be Aug. 20 against Charlotte, but that match was postponed, making the trip to Harrison, N.J., much more significant.
“Messi’s MLS debut ticket featuring Messi’s Inter Miami and New York Red Bulls is more in-demand than any NFL team from last season, based on average price,” Vivid Seats’ Consumer Communications Specialist Shana Rosenthal said.
As of Thursday afternoon, the cheapest ticket to get into Red Bull Arena for the game was listed at $363.
The priciest ticket was going for $3,234.
Unsurprisingly, the much anticipated MLS debut of the soccer superstar is trending to be the league’s hottest ticket since 2009 and it is the most expensive ticket based on average price for a Red Bulls match in over a decade.
According to data from Vivid Seats, Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup match against Dallas this month is the record for the highest average ticket price at $678.
Prior to that, New York City FC’s MLS Cup match against the Portland Timbers had been the standard-bearer at $597.
Ticket prices for last year’s friendly between the Red Bulls and FC Barcelona averaged $270, according to Vivid Seats.
The interest has been so high that Red Bulls officials had given some thought to trying to move the matchup to nearby MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
The Jets and Giants are facing one another in a preseason game the same night, however, rendering that idea moot.
“When we thought about it with more diligence and thinking about our partners and our fans, we wanted to make sure ultimately that the match was played at Red Bull Arena,” team general manager Marc de Grandpré told The Post.
Messi’s arrival has been a game-changer for Inter Miami and the league and has created a spike in interest that is hard to compare to anything else.
Vivid Seats said that it experienced a 27,037 percent increase in site traffic from June 6-7, when rumors began to spread that Messi could be Miami-bound.
There has been a 674 percent increase in ticket prices for Inter Miami games.
By comparison, The Jets only had a 96 percent increase in average ticket price for games after the arrival of star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
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