Lionel Messi’s arrival to Major League Soccer has been a huge boom, on and off the field. On the field, Inter Miami went from last place to contenders, winning the Leagues Cup, making it to the final of the US Open Cup, and yet to lose in Messi’s three MLS matches so far.

According to Morning Brew, Apple TV’s MLS deal has seen the Messi effect, with 110,000 new subscribers on the day Messi debuted with Inter Miami against Cruz Azul alone. The day before only 6,143 had subscribed to the service.

July has been reported as the best month so far for subscriptions to Apple TV and MLS Season Pass and that from February to July a total of 15% of the MLS Season Pass subscribers also signed up for Apple TV as well. So much so that an Argentine national team teammate of Messi has subscribed to the MLS package.

Germán Pezzella subscribes to MLS Season Pass

Germán Pezzella of Real Betis is a teammate of Messi on the Argentine national team, but the former River Plate defender needs his Messi fix and admitted as much to TyC Sports, “I had to pay for the MLS subscription to watch (Messi) because I didn’t have it. Watching him motivates you, what he does on and off the pitch. We have to learn from him and how he competes.”

Germán Pezzella will suit up with Messi when South American World Cup qualifying begins for Argentina against Ecuador and Bolivia on 7 and 12 September 2023, respectively. Pezzella is currently on his third season of his second stint at Real Betis, before that the 32-year-old began his career at River Plate and continued at Betis and Fiorentina. Pezzella has won 3 titles with Argentina, the most important the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Germán Pezzella

Argentina teammate of Lionel Messi subscribes to MLS Season Pass to watch him