That’s according to Jorge Mas, one of Inter Miami’s owners. Mas added that “Spanish language viewership on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV has surpassed over 50 percent for Messi matches and continues to rise,” underscoring the player’s popularity in the Spanish-speaking community. Apple CEO Tim Cook retweeted Mas’ comments, indicating that Mas’ claims are genuine (Apple’s PR team has been drawing attention to the tweet as well).

The company hasn’t disclosed how many subscribers the service has, though reports in July suggested the number was nearing 1 million before Messi’s arrival. In any case, Apple is evidently pleased by Messi’s impact on MLS Season Pass.

“For MLS, we could not be happier with how the partnership is going,” Cook said on an Apple earnings call last week. “It’s clearly in the early days, but we are beating our expectation in terms of subscribers, and the fact that Messi went to Inter Miami helped us out there a bit. And so we’re very excited about it.”

Apple, which dropped the price of the subscription from $99 to $49 for the second half of the season, is said to be paying $250 million a year for the MLS broadcast rights. Messi is reportedly taking a cut of revenue from new MLS Season Pass subscribers as part of his Inter Miami contract.

Messi has hit the ground running in Miami. He has scored seven goals and contributed three assists in four games, all of which Miami won. Before he joined the team, Miami was on an 11-game winless streak.

Although he’s 36, an age when most soccer players are winding down their careers, Messi is still going strong. He led Argentina to the biggest prize in the game, the World Cup, last December and helped PSG win back-to-back French league championships before moving to the US. As a result, Messi is the overwhelming favorite to win the Ballon d’Or, arguably the most prestigious individual award in soccer, for a record-extending eighth time.

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As its description suggests, matches will be simulated, so you won’t directly control players’ actions like in traditional sports games. Instead, it focuses on in-game strategies like player stamina and power-play management. Playable modes include online-friendly matches and “intense online competitions” like Rank matches, Leagues, and Guilds. It sounds like a sports game for those who want 100 percent strategy and little or no player-controlled action.

Promotional screenshots show a one-on-one battle with assigned numerical skills for each player. They’re broken down into categories like dribbling, one-two, passing and shooting. The pictured player appears to have “skill move” power-up cards like combative chase shot, wild tap dribble and floating instep shot. It sounds like EA took core gameplay elements familiar from titles like Teamfight Tactics (and many others) and slapped a soccer skin onto it to attract fans of both genres.

The game will have over 5,000 licensed players from “more than 10 top leagues,” including the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and Serie A. You can train players to upgrade their moves, unlock new traits as you progress and customize cosmetics like stadium designs, uniforms and balls.

“EA Sports FC Tactical embraces strategic gameplay to create an all-new football experience that immerses players in the World’s Game like never before,” said EA Sports senior vice president Nick Wlodyka. The game is available for pre-registration on the App Store and Google Play ahead of an expected January 18, 2024 launch.

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Apple Vision Pro users will be able to check out MLS games on a virtual screen that appears to be up to 100 feet wide. The Apple TV app is also availableon smart TVs, set-top boxes, game consoles and of course on Apple’s own devices.

Among the games you’ll be able to watch are Inter Miami’s visit to DC United. Ticket prices for Miami games have gone through the roof since Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest player of all-time, joined the team last year. So, getting to watch the match for free is nothing to complain about. (Messi is likely to miss the game due to injury anyway, so you might be glad you didn’t spend up to four figures on a ticket.) I’ll most likely be watching my local team CF Montreal playing away at Chicago Fire, which takes place at the same time as the Miami match on Saturday afternoon.

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