Messi in Philadelphia: What you need to know for Union-Inter Miami CF Leagues Cup match
CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- Subaru Park in Chester, Delaware, County, will take center stage Tuesday night when world-renowned soccer star Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF are in town to battle the Philadelphia Union in the 2023 Leagues Cup semifinals.
It will be Messi's first game in Philadelphia after he came to the MLS in July.
"We look forward to hosting the greatest player in the history of the sport in our building," Union coach Jim Curtin said.
Messi isn't the only global soccer superstar connected with Inter Miami. David Beckham owns 30% of the club, which as an option in his contract when he came to the MLS in 2007.
Here's what you need to know about Tuesday night's Union and Inter Miami match.
What time is the game?
The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.
How to watch?
You will need the MLS Season Pass from Apple TV+ to watch Messi's first game in Philadelphia.
Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up for $12.99 per month or $39 per season and non-Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up for $14.99 per month or $49 per season. The good news, however, is that the 2023 MLS Season Pass is now more than 50% off.
What is the MLS Season Pass?
This is the first season of MLS's 10-year streaming partnership with Apple.
According to Apple, the streaming service allows fans to enjoy "every live MLS regular-season match, the entire Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, and Leagues Cup1 all in one place, with consistent match times and no blackouts — a first in live sports broadcasting."
Since Messi's arrival, MLS Season Pass subscriptions have more than doubled, Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged in a tweet.
Are tickets available?
Tickets to the Leagues Cup match sold out in minutes, so if you want to see Messi in person Tuesday night, you'll have to turn to the secondary market and it will cost you.
As of Tuesday morning, the cheapest ticket on StubHub is $202, before fees, for standing room only. On SeatGeek? The cheapest is $225, before fees, for standing room only.
The most expensive tickets on the secondary market are $16,200 on StubHub and $4,524 on SeatGeek.
SeatGeek says the average ticket price for Tuesday's game is $708. The average cost of a Union ticket this season before Tuesday's game was $61, which means the average ticket price for the Messi match is 230% higher than normal.
Vivid Seats says its average ticket is $556. The previous high on Vivid Seats was last year's Eastern Conference Final match against New York City FC, which was $167.
Curtin is pleading with Union fans not to sell their tickets.
"Please don't sell your tickets no matter how much money they're offering for them, please," Curtin said.
How's the weather?
If you're headed out to the Union's Leagues Cup match against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami CF, stay tuned to our NEXT Weather team's forecasts. There could be a thunderstorm around the 7 p.m. kickoff time.
Right now it looks like there could be a few storms around an hour or two before kick off, but hopefully most of the storms will clear out and push to the east for the start of the match at 7 p.m.
Regardless of the threat of storms, it'll still be warm and quick humid for the start of the match with temperatures in the low 80s and feeling like the upper 80s. Temperatures will then gradually cool into the mid-upper 70s by the final whistle.
It should dry out after the early evening storm and the match should end with temperatures in the 70s.
Temperatures will be around 80 degrees at kickoff but feeling warmer due to the high dewpoint. You'll likely be sweating with all this humidity.
What is the Leagues Cup?
If you're unfamiliar with the Leagues Cup, here's how it works.
The Leagues Cup is an annual two-league tournament founded in 2019 involving all 29 MLS teams and 18 Liga MX clubs. It's formatted after the World Cup, with a Group Stage featuring four different regions -- Central, East, South and West.
After the Group Stage, the tournament shifts to Knockout Rounds until a champion is crowned.
The winner of Tuesday's match between the Union and Inter Miami will advance to the Leagues Cup championship round against the winner of Monterrey vs. Nashville.
The tournament is officially sanctioned by the Concacaf and the tournament's top three teams will get automatic bids to the Concacaf Champions Cup. The losers of the semifinals round will face each other to determine third place.
The Leagues Cup Final is set for Saturday.
