Inter Miami's Lionel Messi to star in MLS TikTok livestream during August Leagues Cup match
Stream will feature mobile-friendly vertical format with custom graphics
Previous Messi-focused stream in Oct. 2024 drew 6.4 million viewers
WHAT HAPPENED
Major League Soccer announced Thursday that Lionel Messi will be the focus of an exclusive TikTok livestream during Inter Miami's Aug. 2 Leagues Cup matchup with Necaxa. The special broadcast will feature a dedicated camera tracking the 38-year-old Argentine superstar throughout the entire game, presented in a mobile-friendly vertical format with custom graphics.
MLS is calling the broadcast series "Player Spotlight: Messi" and plans to produce a total of four such streams during the 2025 season.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
This continues an approach MLS first tested in October 2024, when a similar Messi-focused stream during his playoff debut attracted 6.4 million viewers across the league and team's TikTok pages, making it the most widely viewed sporting event in Apple history according to the company.
The match, Messi's playoff debut, saw the Herons defeat Atlanta United 2-1 in game one of their Best-of-3 series that eventually saw the South Beach club eliminated in the opening round of the postseason.
MLS commissioner Don Garber spoke Wednesday ahead of the MLS All-Star Game, claiming the league is averaging 120,000 unique viewers per season pass stream in 2025. The number is an "almost 50 percent" increase from last year, per Garber.
In April, MLS and TikTok announced a multi-year partnership to bring live match highlights and fan reactions to the platform. Now, come the Leagues Cup, a live match will be shown as the Herons clash with Necaxa - a club co-owned by a group of A-list celebrities including Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, Mesut Özil, Kate Upton, Odell Beckham Jr., Justin Verlander, Victor Oladipo, and Eva Longoria.
WHAT SETH BACON SAID
'Everything we're doing is focused on fan growth,' MLS EVP of media Seth Bacon said in an interview via Sportico. 'We're a league that is going to put the content where the people are...Everything is on Apple, but we're also going to find you in other ways, so that you can see it, experience it, and then you know that it's on Apple.'
'We have the ability to say, 'Hey, come this way, or come this way, or come this way,' Bacon added. 'We've got ways to entertain and engage people, no matter what level of interest they have.'
WHAT'S NEXT?
Messi and his teammate Jordi Alba could face a suspension for Inter Miami's game against FC Cincinnati on July 26 after failing to show up for the MLS All-Star game.
The TikTok stream will be the first of four planned "Player Spotlight: Messi" broadcasts scheduled for the 2025 season, though MLS has not yet announced the dates for the remaining three streams. Inter Miami will face Atlas first in the Leagues Cup on July 30 and then Necaxa on Aug. 2 before their final group stage game against Pumas UNAM on Aug. 6.
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