Inter Miami: The need for a splash
Next year, Inter Miami will take part in their first MLS season. And as they assemble their team and prepare for this new adventure, there is a great need to make a splash.
Sport is unquestionably about winning. No one would ever protest otherwise, although not everybody involved in sport is there for the winning. Nevertheless, that does eradicate the importance of everything that comes with being a professional sports franchise. In fact, the two go hand-in-hand.
The reason why Manchester United are one of the most successful teams on the pitch is that they are one of the most successful off it. Commercially, financially and reputationally, United are one of the biggest teams in world football. They have fans across the world, especially in Asia, rake in incredible revenue, and have world-class facilities.
It is the same for MLS teams. Atlanta United invested huge amounts of money in a new stadium and new team. As such, they generated a massive buzz in a football-hungry city and now attract the largest crowds in MLS history. They are also one of the more successful MLS organisations off the pitch.
As Inter Miami prepare for their first MLS season, which will be next year, they must too balance this insatiable need to be prosperous off the pitch while remaining competitive on it. Having a terrific stadium plan is a massive bonus, undoubtedly, but there is plenty more to do if they are to rock the boat like recent expansion teams have, most notably Los Angeles FC.
When LAFC came to build a team, they made the necessary splash to attract fans, both those that were already interested in football and new fans to the sport entirely. Having a celebrity as a part of the ownership group in Will Ferrell obviously helped, but they also mastered the organisation-building process.
There were plenty of factors that contributed to LAFC’s explosive growth, but one of them was signing Carlos Vela to be the playing face of the franchise. He attracted fans, he immediately became one of the best players in the league, and, most importantly, he put LAFC on the map. Inter Miami now need a similar impact player.
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There have been plenty of reports linking myriad European stars to Inter Miami. From Lionel Messi to Antoine Griezmann, David Beckham and his cohorts are beginning to build their very first Inter Miami team and it seems as though they are intent in bringing in a big name.
The latest name to surface as a possible target is Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani, whose contract expires at the end of the season. The Uruguayan is now 32 years old. He is getting to the stage of an illustrious career that opens the door to an MLS move. And Cavani would certainly help inject an element of excitement around Inter Miami.
This, perhaps even more than his playing pedigree, is where his true value comes. While it is a little frustrating to concede that a player has been bought for his financial impact and not just his footballing impact, and I am sure Cavani will provide the latter as well as the former, this is what a new expansion team must do. They must make a splash.
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There is an increasingly cold, calculated, economically orientated character to world football, and modern clubs must catch up with it. Drumming up fan interest and raising revenue is part and parcel of the game, and so making a splash is a necessary evil. Inter Miami will be hoping Cavani can produce quite the bomb.