Massey’s joining Miami International is an important milestone in the history of SLS. The impact of this exchange is far from limited to Miami International. It is the key to the development of the whole SLS and the new stage. Paul Athletic, The author of The Tenorio, elaborated his own views on this topic.
Before Macy announced to the world that he would join Miami International, the SLS team had already created its own history. They entered the semi-finals of the US Open Cup for the first time young pioneer team history. The arrival of Massey undoubtedly made this semi-final more attractive.
Cincinnati FC, who is at home, may not have thought that Macy can bring such a huge influence. The game has become hard to find in less than a day after tickets are sold. Before that, their most successful match was against the Columbia crew, and it took several days to sell out the tickets.
When the details of the contract between Massey and Miami International were first exposed, some experts were still doubting that SLS partners such as Apple and Adidas worked so hard to help Miami International sign Massey, what can it bring to the MLS? But now, I believe many people already have the answer. The joining of this legendary player has made every SLS get its own benefits.
At the beginning of its establishment, the purpose of SLS was to bind the commercial interests of each team, aiming at improving the anti-risk ability of each team boss and minimizing losses. In other words, anything beneficial to a single MLS team will benefit the MLS collectively. Robert Stevenson, vice president of MLS, said earlier this month: “All members of the board of directors of MLS are partners. They compete with each other on the field and support each other outside the field.”
The arrival of Massey not only improved the profitability of Miami International, but also enhanced the profitability of the entire SLS. This is very important! Because according to last year’s research Sportico, the average annual income of the MLS team is 57 million dollars, far less than that of the NFL (0.545 billion dollars), NBA (0.308 billion dollars), MLB (0.313 billion dollars) and NHL ($0.187 billion).
Ted Siegel, the boss of Houston Dinamo, said earlier this month: “(the joining of Massey) this has a positive impact on all the teams of the MLS. I think this is a very positive thing. I would like to express my gratitude to the MAS brothers and Beckham for their efforts and the transfer.”
Now, almost everyone in American football has seen what Macy’s joining brought-and how he performed in the first two matches. Most teams playing at home against Miami International can also obviously feel the increase in revenue on the match day. Massey’s jerseys have been sold out.
Apple said that in the week when Macy finished his first show in Miami International, three SLS matches set a rating record. On social media, both the number of Miami international fans and the broadcast of related video highlights are soaring. For example, in his debut against the Blue Cross team, the free kick he scored had more than 100 million hits. Even the American Football Association has benefited from it-as the organizer of the American Open Cup-they will get 50% of the tickets from the semi-finals hosted by FC Cincinnati.
The contract between Massey and Miami International is not only about who pays his salary, but also about the chain reaction of this contract.
Derek Avram, executive vice president of sports integrated marketing company Octagon, said: “Although we have talked about the importance of this money, I think Massey’s halo effect, his significance to the entire football ecosystem. It will benefit everyone-in any form or way.”
Last Tuesday, after Miami International defeated Atlanta Major League 4-0, right-back jedrin wore a pair of pink black-phase Beats by Dre headphones for media interviews. He said it was a gift from Macy to his teammates. There is no doubt that this is the obvious continuation of the cooperative relationship between Apple and this legendary star-Beats by dry is a brand owned by Apple.
At the same time, it also shows the particularity of Macy’s contract.
Avram said: “In fact, it is quite historic for Macy to bond the SLS, Apple, Adidas and Miami International together.”
In fact, the contract between Massey and Miami International is similar to the agreement between Beckham and SLS in 2007, which aims to make them benefit continuously in the “post-player Era. David Beckham has a brand new team in SLS at a price of 25 million dollars, and after that, it will obviously cost more to get a new seat in SLS-in 2015, after David Beckham exercised the power to expand the team, New York FC won the seat at $0.1 billion. When Miami International was announced in 2018, Cincinnati FC paid $0.15 billion.
Although MLS did not get too much cash from Miami International, this team tightly tied Beckham and MLS together, making it the best promotion ambassador in this league. Massey’s contract also has the nature of “similar work. After the retirement of Massey, he will own a certain proportion of Miami International shares. After his career as a player, Massey will also become a shareholder of SLS. His brand will continue to be tied up with MLS. This will also encourage Macy to continue to promote the development of SLS-because he directly benefits from the development of SLS.
Tim Levick, a former senior executive of AEG, helped facilitate the deal for David Beckham to join the MLS in 2007. He said: “Both the MLS and Don Garber have experienced these, don Garber is smarter than anyone in the world in this respect. This is about: even if there is only a three-year contract, how can you let him play a role for 10 years?”
When the boss of Miami International, Jorge Mas, compared the contract with Jordan’s contract, he also pointed out this point. The NBA celebrity and Nike’s joint brand made him continue to profit for a long time after his retirement.
“Business opportunities are very important. I have been talking with the players about what they can get after retirement.” Jorge-Mas said, “I said to Macy: You are like Jordan, which is a synonym for an era. After your professional constant pressure ends, you can not only continue to enjoy such a position, but also make a difference in what is important to you. I think this is very convincing.”
Even if it is a short-term bundle, it is very meaningful and valuable to associate itself with star players like Beckham and Macy. Moreover, at the beginning of Macy’s landing on SLS, this value was already very obvious. In terms of the number of INS fans alone, Massey has 0.49 billion fans and Beckham also has 81.5 million fans. Compared with Miami International, there are only 12.7 million followers and MLS only 3.3 million followers. Massey and Beckham can obviously create greater influence on social platforms.
Daniel koshner, CEO of Greenfly, said: “When we see players active on social media, they will help various sponsors to reveal their brands. It has incredible great value, and this value itself belongs to Miami International and their sponsors.”
“Miami International’s influence and the number of audiences they radiate are increasing exponentially. In a broader sense, for SLS, any exposure to the league will bring great influential value, because there will be a larger group of people who realize the SLS.”
For Massey’s business partners, the impact is also immediate.
At the press conference on July 20, Thor sousard, senior director of Adidas North American football, said that they saw people’s “incredible demand” for Macy’s shirt. “The retail partner report said, the one-day sales of Macy’s jerseys hit a record on the day they were released”. Macy’s jerseys are sold out online, and it is difficult to buy Macy’s jerseys in team stores on match day.
Prior to the game against the Atlanta League last Tuesday, Macy shared a link to subscribe to the SLS on his INS. This is another example of the value of his cooperation with Apple. According to the report of sports business magazine, the number of MLS subscriptions has increased from about 700000 at the beginning of June to nearly 1 million at the end of July.
Other advertising sponsors such as adamant casino hotel and Budweiser beer also launched new advertisements on the occasion of Macy’s arrival. Avram said: “In this sense, it opens up a series of new opportunities to attract new fans. At the same time, Massey’s playing in SLS may also reshape his career story. At this stage, this story has not been fully presented.”
In MLS, the valuation of Massey is not only the ticket income of a single game, but also the sales volume of jerseys or the income of MLS subscriptions. The arrival of Massey will also open the door for new audiences to pass SLS, bringing more opportunities for this league.
As long as you look at the growth of social media in Miami International, you can know the influence of Macy’s-from less than 1 million fans before he announced his joining the team to 12.7 million fans now. However, we still don’t know whether the fast-growing fan group will pay attention to it for a long time.
What needs to be considered most by MLS and Miami International now is how to convert those traffic from Macy into their own traffic. Perhaps they had already realized this when Macy announced that they were about to land in SLS, and they were indeed actively preparing to meet this challenge.
The joining of Massey has improved the attendance rate of SLS competition unprecedentedly. The match between Chicago Flame and Miami International created the record of the highest income in a single game. The game, which had to wait until October 4, had sold about 8,000 tickets before Massey announced his joining, but in less than 10 hours after the official announced his joining, more than 10,000 more were sold. Such a situation undoubtedly made the Chicago Flame, which had been “rejected” by the fans for a long time due to the poor performance of the team, flattered. Now, they are also planning to use Macy’s influence to bring the old fans back to the scene. At the same time, they also hope to attract more fans who have never seen the Chicago Flame game and become their own supporters.
In addition, teams like Atlanta and Charlotte FC, which share their home court with NFL teams, also actively open up the upper seats, in order to get more income on the match day-Atlanta Grand couplet opened the upper floor of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and 25000 seats were sold at an average price of 150 US dollars (sold out), the game day income increased by almost 4 million dollars. However, teams like Los Angeles Galaxy, which have a large number of season ticket holders and are difficult to expand the stadium, have also significantly increased their advertising revenue. According to the division mode of the MLS, each team should not only hand in the ticket income in proportion, but also pay one third of the income for redistribution. Therefore, all MLS teams will actually benefit from Macy’s joining.
All this is a microcosm of the traffic brought by MLS’ active digestion.
As Don Garber said earlier this month: “We have a special moment to take advantage of, so you will expect us to do everything possible to ensure that the team, partners can seize this opportunity. We have thought very carefully about how to ensure that SLS will be promoted to a higher level after 2026. We are taking advantage of this special moment to make our dreams come true.”
(Armour)