Lionel Messi’s visit to Philly is a measuring stick for the Union beyond just the game

Jim Curtin knew what he was doing when he begged fans to not sell their tickets for Messi's visit. For other Philly teams, it's impossible to imagine, but it's undoubtedly a real issue for the Union.

Union fans in the River End during a game earlier this year.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published Aug. 14, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

SYDNEY, Australia — It used to be the case that only bad news traveled fast. But these days, every kind of news makes its way around the world in an instant.

So it was no surprise that when I ran into Telemundo’s veteran soccer broadcaster Andrés Cantor in the Stadium Australia press center before Saturday’s England-Colombia World Cup game, he didn’t just want to talk about that. The Argentina native wanted my thoughts on the Union facing Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup semifinals.

A few hours earlier, as the Union’s quarterfinal win over Querétaro was wrapping up, I was on the way to watch an Australian Rules football game as a fan with some friends. When the Union won, my friends (two of whom are from Argentina) thankfully weren’t offended when I got on the stadium Wi-Fi, pulled out my earbuds, and joined Jim Curtin’s postgame news conference from my phone.

Miami is more than Messi

When the Argentine superstar signed with Miami, just about no one thought he’d visit Chester this year. The Herons were awful statistically and to the eye, and it seemed improbable that they’d reach the Leagues Cup semifinals.

Well, here they are, not just Messi but his fellow former Barcelona stars Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. And Miami as a whole seems transformed, with winger Robert Taylor finding new life under esteemed new manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino.

Veteran striker Josef Martínez and fine young striker Leo Campana are playing well, too. And it’s the opportunity of a lifetime for 18-year-old attacking midfield project Benjamin Cremaschi, an Inter academy product who was born in Miami to Argentine parents.

Now even more big-time youngsters are coming: 19-year-old Argentine centerback Tomás Avilés, 20-year-old Argentine attacking midfielder Facundo Farías, and 20-year-old Paraguayan central midfielder Diego Gómez.

Can the Union beat them? If any MLS team can right now, this might be the one. Miami hasn’t faced a defense like the Union’s high press yet, and four Union players have played against Messi before: José Andrés Martínez, Andre Blake, Damion Lowe, and Joaquín Torres. (It would be five had Alejandro Bedoya not infamously missed the U.S.-Argentina game at the 2016 Copa América Centenario because of yellow card accumulation.)

Curtin’s plea goes viral

The other big question is what the crowd will be like in Chester on Tuesday (7 p.m., Apple TV, paywalled). It was on Curtin’s mind after the Querétaro game, and he didn’t hold back his thoughts.

“I do believe this is probably the biggest event we’ve ever had in this stadium,” he said. “We’re talking about the best player of all time coming here in a semifinal with a trophy on the line, and [Concacaf] Champions League spots on the line, so it’s a big game. I know our fans are going to show up.”

Then came the punch line.

“Please don’t sell your tickets, no matter how much money they’re offering for them,” Curtin said. “Please.”

Those words went viral in an instant, and the reaction was split. Many devoted Union fans cheered on Curtin’s rallying cry, but others didn’t like it. Why should he tell them what to do with their money, when reselling tickets for this game could net hundreds or even thousands of dollars? Especially when the Union jacked up ticket prices for anyone who hadn’t opted in to a preset price before the Leagues Cup started?

It’s not my place to tell fans how to spend their money either, since I don’t have to pay to go to Union games. But I was struck by the scale of the reaction, for a specific reason.

A sign of the times

For countless years, Philadelphians have loved to say — to themselves as much as to everyone else — that they’re the most passionate, loyal, devoted fans anywhere in sports.

There’s no way an Eagles fan would give up a ticket to a playoff game, or to a big-time regular-season contest against the Cowboys, Giants, or Chiefs. And we all know how much they’re willing to spend on kelly green jerseys.

Phillies fans are so attached to their team that during last year’s World Series, some went to Houston for a game because it was cheaper to get there and back than into Citizens Bank Park.

I can’t imagine a diehard 76ers fan giving up a visit from the Warriors, Celtics, or Lakers. The Flyers have stunk for years, but I remember vividly when fans would flood the Washington Capitals’ arena because it was easier to get in there than the Wells Fargo Center (and the Spectrum before it).

Then add in the Philly area’s hordes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé fans, the kind who spend days refreshing TicketMaster’s website to no avail, then beg Sports Complex security staff to just let them into the parking lots to imagine they’re close to their favorite musicians.

I don’t mean this as a criticism of Union fans. Really, I don’t. If sports-ticket capitalism can get you back multiple times what you initially paid, and that’s what you want to do, go right ahead.

I just find it fascinating that such a thing could happen in Philadelphia specifically.

Why is it happening?

Is it because the Union don’t have as big of a core fan base as the other local teams? Is it because they play in Chester instead of South Philly, and the game is on a weeknight? Is it because soccer is still seen by a lot of people around here as, if not un-American, then un-Philadelphian?

Is it because many casual soccer fans in the Philly area will spend big to watch English clubs — or a Welsh one in England’s fourth tier, Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham — but don’t care about their actual local team?

(Trust me, there are lots of those people.)

Or, as we saw with the standing ovation the Phillies’ Trea Turner got during his recent slump, are Philly fans changing? Are they becoming, heaven forbid, more like everyone else?

There are a lot of reasons why that might not be a bad thing. For one, many other cities have boorish sports fans but never get the same criticism Philly does. More seriously, though, the town is different than it used to be: a big young population, more diverse than ever, and maybe, just maybe, a little smarter and more self-aware.

(The ultimate proof of that would be if Philly could get a WNBA or NWSL team, but that’s for another day.)

Do what you want with your money. Seriously. But do me, and yourself, a favor with it: Be honest about what you’re doing, and why.

Curtin, as he always is, was honest when he spoke.

“A lot of people from D.C., a lot of people from New York are going to be trying to get tickets for sure, just to see [Miami] because they’ve only been on the road once so far,” Curtin said. “I just hope that it can be our fans. And I know it will be our fans getting behind us. And I look forward to it. It’s going to be really exciting.”

Hopefully everyone can agree on that much.