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Major League Soccer's 30th season kicks off this weekend with fans still clamouring to see its biggest star, Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, and the addition of San Diego FC, the league's 30th club.
Messi led Miami to the top of the regular season standings last year before the club suffered a stunning defeat in the playoffs at the hands of Atlanta United.
That bitter disappointment has served as motivation, Miami forward Luis Suarez said.
"After finishing 2024 the way we did, I think we're even more eager to turn that bad image around, that bad experience we had getting knocked out by Atlanta," Suarez said.
"So we have to learn from what we went through, from the past, so that this year we don't make the same mistakes and can reach the final or win a trophy and bring joy to our fans."
Argentine superstar Messi will be joined again this season by ex-Barcelona teammates Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba under new head coach Javier Mascherano.
Messi-mania remains undiminished with fans, with the top 10 most in-demand games of the 2025 season all featuring Inter Miami, according to ticket resale platform StubHub.
San Diego, meanwhile, will have their hands full when they take on MLS Cup defending champions LA Galaxy on the road in their first-ever regular season game on Sunday night.
FOOTBALL RISING
The new MLS season also provides a prime chance to build on the momentum of the beautiful game in a country once ambivalent to it, with the US hosting this year's Club World Cup and joining neighbours Canada and Mexico in co-hosting the 2026 World Cup.
Once a scrappy upstart with little international interest, MLS has grown to attract major names, most notably Messi, who signed with David Beckham-backed Miami two years ago.
All eyes will also be on the 37-year-old when the Club World Cup kicks off on June 14 with a match between Miami and Egyptian Premier League side Al Ahly, with stakeholders praying the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner goes the distance.
"The biggest thing will be if Inter Miami and in 2026 the US team perform well in these international competitions - that will excite people more than any advertising," said Andrew Zimbalist, a professor emeritus of economics at Smith College and sports business expert.
The question for the league's next 30 years will be whether it can finally challenge the supremacy of the "big four" men's leagues in North America – NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL.
MLS boasted total attendance of 12.1 million in 2024, second only to the Premier League across all professional football leagues, but still trails in overall recognition in the lucrative American market, where women's leagues like the WNBA and NWSL are also competing for attention.
"It's slowly built up the quality, the level of play. But I still think that the typical football fan looks at MLS and they think 'triple-A baseball'," said Zimbalist.
"It's probably at the place now where it's close to being competitive with the NHL in the United States," he said.
"Given its popularity and pervasiveness internationally, and the opportunity always for US teams to compete against teams from Europe and elsewhere, I suspect that that popularity will continue to grow."
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