Lionel Messi’s sensational debut at Inter Miami has the MLS club pushing for its long-awaited $1 billion stadium project.

Miami Freedom Park — a 131-acre development built around a $350 million soccer-specific stadium — is now scheduled to open in 2025. Messi is signed with Inter Miami through that year, when he will turn 38. 

During Miami’s nine-game win streak since Messi’s arrival, its four home matches have been played at the 21,000-seat DRV PNK Stadium. The new venue at Miami Freedom Park will have a slightly larger capacity of 25,000.

It’s unclear if the new stadium will be open in time for the start of the 2025 MLS season, which will likely begin in late February. Construction has begun on the venue, and an official groundbreaking ceremony will take place later this year.

Any delays from this point on could bring the possibility of a stadium opening without Messi. The club is already projecting $200 million in revenue next year — nearly quadruple its projection for this year — and a third season of Messi plus a new stadium would likely take that number even higher in 2025.

However, Messi could opt to play for Inter Miami beyond 2025, furthering the club’s capitalization on the superstar. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will include matches at the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium, and Argentina is building a training facility in Miami — meaning South Florida could be in for even more Messi Mania in the coming years.

The women’s pro hockey landscape will be unified next year in top markets across the U.S. and Canada, building on rising trends in women’s sports.

Fans’ interest in women’s sports has been increasing — from viewership to sports betting — most recently around the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Now, women’s hockey has its chance to benefit from that momentum.

The Professional Women’s Hockey League, a merger of two competitions under the ownership of Los Angeles Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, will begin play in 2024 with franchises in New York, Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa.

More details are forthcoming on arenas and team branding, but all six of those cities have NHL franchises. And while the NHL wouldn’t comment to Front Office Sports about any specific role it has in helping select cities or in future collaborations with franchises, the league said it looks forward to working with the PWHL.

Next up for the PWHL will be sealing a media rights deal for the broadcasts of its games. 

The Premier Hockey Federation — one of the assets Walter acquired — had a deal with ESPN that was set to run through 2024. However, that deal does not carry over to the PWHL, ESPN confirmed to FOS. The PWHPA, also owned by Walter, broadcasted various events across outlets like NHL Network and regional sports channels.

The 2024 season will include 24 regular-season games per team, and six players per team will be able to sign three-year contracts worth at least $80,000 annually.

Buffalo’s two major pro sports teams are both undergoing major changes at crucial moments for their organizations.

Terry Pegula, owner of both the NFL’s Bills and NHL’s Sabres, has dissolved Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the parent organization that previously oversaw both franchises. Pegula also appointed himself as Sabres president, a title he also holds for the Bills. 

The teams will now operate as separate entities for the first time since Pegula purchased the Bills in 2014.

The restructuring follows a series of prior senior-level leadership changes. Pegula’s wife, Kim, has been unable to continue in her prior role as PSE president and CEO following a cardiac arrest last year, and last month, Terry Pegula fired Ron Raccuia, who previously oversaw both franchises. 

Sabres COO John Roth will aid Pegula and lead business operations for both teams, but they will otherwise have separate staffs and day-to-day operations.

Buffalo Venues

In less than two weeks, the Bills begin the 2023 NFL season, once again as Super Bowl contenders. The team is also in the midst of building a new stadium in Orchard Park, New York, though with rising cost estimates to at least $1.7 billion.

The Sabres are in the initial stages of planning a large-scale upgrade to their home arena, KeyBank Center. The 27-year-old, publicly owned venue in downtown Buffalo hasn’t undergone any major renovations since opening and will require several years to complete them during Sabres offseasons. 

While the dissolution of PSE has heightened local speculation of a potential Sabres franchise sale, most of that arena work will be privately funded by Pegula.

The team is also trying to break an active, 12-year postseason drought, the longest in NHL history — and currently tied for the longest in all of U.S. major pro team sports.