Ahead of the MLS Cup between Columbus Crew and LAFC, Garber delivered his State of the League address and hailed the Inter Miami star’s impact.
Bryan ArellanoBryxn_ARoddy ConsRoddyConsEstados UnidosUpdate: Dec 9th, 2023 02:23 EST
CHANDAN KHANNAAFP
The 2023 season in Major League Soccer has been the most successful in the history of the competition to date. In addition to attendance records being broken in stadiums across the United States, global superstars Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba all opted to continue their careers stateside, signing for David Beckham’s Inter Miami in the summer.
The mere presence of Messi in MLS, a matter of months after he won the World Cup with Argentina, is enough to make fans across the globe sit up and take notice of the league. In Florida, meanwhile, The Herons have revealed that season tickets for DRV PNK Stadium next season have already sold out.
🗣️Don Garber (MLS Commissioner): “I think history will remember 2023 as the year of Messi. The best player in history came to our league and raised it to a level that was difficult to imagine.” 🐐 #Messi #Intermiamicf pic.twitter.com/CGW7OdUSAm
— Inter Miami News Hub (@Intermiamicfhub) December 9, 2023
What did Garber say about Messi’s impact on MLS?
Speaking to the press at his annual State of the League address on Friday, MLS commissioner Don Garber hailed the 36-year-old’s decision to move across the Atlantic but also sought to highlight a number of other positive steps taken by the league.
“He is the best player of all time and he came to our league. I think history will look back at 2023 as the year of Messi, but from my perspective, it was perhaps the most spectacular year in our history, for a variety of reasons.
“Lionel Messi took it to a level that probably was hard to imagine, but we had many more things to celebrate. To cap it all off, Messi comes to Miami and overdelivered on so many different levels on the field and off the field, and really delivered on this concept that MLS can be the league of choice for the best players in the world.”
It all comes down to this. 🍿Crew. LAFC. MLS Cup. December 9. pic.twitter.com/cOajkm9L75
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 3, 2023
