Lionel Messi’s arrival at Inter Miami brought the eyes of the world on MLS. Now, the league is taking its most popular team straight to international fans in an effort to grow its global cache.

Next month, Inter Miami will play two exhibition matches in China as part of the young club’s first-ever international tour. Inter Miami failed to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs, which will extend through early December. The club’s final match of the regular season is Saturday against Charlotte FC.

If both friendlies — against Chinese Super League clubs on Nov. 5 and 8 — sell out, Inter Miami will play in front of more than 100,000 fans. 

The tour represents a significant step for MLS, which is attempting to use a global strategy typically reserved for top European clubs featuring the sport’s biggest stars. Messi, however, has a long history of playing in front of Chinese fans throughout his illustrious career.

European Game Plan

Europe’s top soccer leagues have found rousing success in bringing their most popular clubs to the U.S. for various friendlies or preseason tournaments. Recent summers have seen NFL stadiums filled with American fans eagerly watching teams from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, and the Bundesliga.

Now, MLS is taking a page from its European counterparts as it looks to expand beyond North America.

Facing arguably an all-time low in its cultural status, the International Olympic Committee is looking to break its own internal rules in order to retain president Thomas Bach for another term.

During this week’s IOC Session in Mumbai, several committee members pushed for a revision of the organization’s charter and its existing 12-year maximum term for presidents, allowing Bach to seek another four-year term after his current one expires in 2025. 

The original limit was part of anti-corruption reforms passed following the IOC’s Salt Lake City bribery scandal in 1999.

The push to revise the IOC charter represents a move for leadership continuity when the Olympics posted record-low U.S. television ratings both last year in Beijing and two years ago in Tokyo. Next year’s Paris Olympics have also faced their own series of organizational challenges, including budget concerns, local outcry over ticket prices, and the city’s planned treatment of its homeless during the Games.

At a press conference Monday, Bach conveyed some openness to staying in his position: “It is a matter of mutual respect and personal relationships that you do not dismiss such a sign of support and friendship out of hand.”

Bach will turn 76 in 2029. He was first elected to his initial eight-year term in 2013, and reelected as an unopposed candidate in 2021. A 16-year stint atop the organization would trail only the 21-year-run of Juan Antonio Samaranch and the 20-year spell of Avery Brundage — both of which predate the 12-year limit. 

New Sports Confirmed

As expected, the IOC also formally approved flag football, lacrosse, baseball and softball, cricket, and squash for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Several of these additions are designed to boost the global appeal of both the Olympics themselves and those particular sports.

“The hope of an Olympic dream just became an active pursuit for countless athletes around the world,” said Janet Evans, LA28’s chief athlete officer. 

As the race to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup heats up, Saudi Arabia continues to put significant effort toward solidifying its global soccer reputation.

After Saudi Pro League clubs spent nearly $1 billion on player transfers this past summer, the country’s up-and-coming women’s competition is starting to get stronger promotion, too. 

The Saudi Women’s Premier League played its inaugural campaign during the 2022-23 season, and this one will be broadcast domestically and internationally for the first time. 

In Saudi Arabia, a state-controlled media network will broadcast matches, while DAZN has picked up the league’s global rights and will show at least two games per week. DAZN is also the broadcast partner for the men’s SPL in six countries, including the U.K.

While the SWPL doesn’t have the starpower of its men’s counterpart, the league has been able to lure former Women’s Super League (England) mainstays Ashleigh Plumptre and Leighanne Robe. It has also signed PepsiCo’s Lay’s brand as a major sponsor.

Making Progress?

The new investment in and promotion of the SWPL can most certainly be attributed to Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to be more widely accepted as a sporting nation.

With women’s rights as a major discussion point amid Saudi Arabia’s various human rights’ criticisms, any evidence that the nation is making progress on those fronts would go a long way toward a general willingness to host major competitions in the country.

India, which became the world’s most populous country earlier this year, is now showing greater strength as a sports power, too.

On Saturday, Disney’s Hotstar reclaimed the global on-demand video streaming record, drawing 35 million concurrent viewers for a ICC World Cup 2023 cricket match between archrivals India and Pakistan. The figure surpassed a prior mark of 32 million concurrent viewers set in May for this year’s Indian Premier League championship match.

Those historic figures helped prompt the International Olympic Committee to complete the process for cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles on Monday. The fact that the decision was made in Mumbai — India’s most populous city — only added to what International Cricket Council chair Greg Barclay called the “icing on the cake.”

The decision is also expected to raise the value of 2028 Olympic broadcasting rights in India by more than $100 million.

Olympic Hosting Aspirations

India is also mounting a bid to host the 2036 Olympics. The IOC’s decision on those Games will not arrive until at least 2026, but the country will likely be vying against Poland, Mexico, and Indonesia — countries that have also expressed interest in the 2036 Games.

“Indians are not just sports lovers, but we love it,” said India prime minister Narendra Modi. “India will leave no stone unturned in the preparation for the successful organization of the Olympics in 2036. This is the dream of the [1.4 billion] Indians.”

Modi and other leaders have not specified a city or region to center the bid, but Ahmedabad is a likely candidate given it has a 132,000-seat stadium named after the prime minister.