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<\/p>\nThe arrival of Lionel Messi has changed life at Inter Miami both on and off the pitch faster than anyone was truly prepared for. That’s the verdict from voices in and around the club who have seen the Florida-based team explode from a community-based outfit to the highest-profile franchise in Major League Soccer overnight.<\/p>\n
Messi sent shockwaves through global football when it was announced that the Wolrd Cup-winning captain had agreed to join the David Beckham-owned club in the summer, turning down a mega-money deal in Saudi Arabia in the process.<\/p>\n
The Argentine’s impact has been instant, almost doubling attendance at home matches and selling out Miami’s fixtures on the road. The hype has not been without reason either. In 14 appearances since his arrival, the Barcelona great has scored 11 times and helped his new club to win their first-ever trophy.<\/p>\n
But such a turnaround in fortunes has caught some of the Inter Miami loyalists off guard. Before Messi arrived in Miami the players would follow a matchday ritual whereby they would meet at the nearby training ground before taking the short walk together into the DRV PNK Stadium.<\/p>\n
Travelling along an enclosed path flanked by barriers, fans were encouraged to line the route, interacting with the players and staff who would routinely sign autographs and pose for selfies.<\/p>\n
But with unprecedented numbers of ‘new’ fans wanting to catch a glimpse of a global sporting icon, that has all ended. Now the team climbs on board a team bus and is driven 150 yards to the stadium.<\/p>\n
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Green Lot Gang Inter Miami supporters\u2019 group member Mike Longin told the Guardian: \u201cWhat made Inter Miami special early on was we had a great supporter group and ownership was really close with the fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son has thrown an American football back and forth with [co-owner] Jorge Mas. I\u2019ve drunk a beer with David Beckham. The club did a lot to build outreach. It\u2019s different now. It\u2019s gone from a family atmosphere to a professional atmosphere, which you\u2019d expect. We were a young club and we grew up overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dramatic shift in experience for hardcore fans has also been felt by the club’s regular reporters. Where once it was normal for just two or three journalists to be in attendance at training sessions, Messi’s first Miami outing attracted 500 accreditation requests.<\/p>\n
It’s a real eye-opener for the Miami Herald’s Michelle Kaufman who has covered association football since the 1990s. She told the Guardian: \u201cBefore he got here, there were only a handful of us that covered the team. At most training sessions, there was somewhere between one and three of us. Four would have been a big crowd. Some days I was the only one out there with Phil Neville and the rest of the players. At a typical game there were maybe a dozen, 15 of us in the press box.<\/p>\n
“The minute he got here, everything changed. They have metal detectors for us to walk through at training. For his first training session, there were 500 credential requests. I think 200 were granted. There was a helicopter overhead and a drone. It\u2019s completely different from how it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
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