The Lionel Messi experience in MLS ended 2023 in downbeat fashion, and ’24 is starting even uglier, spotlighting the risks for the league and Inter Miami in counting on the Argentinian superstar for sustained, large-scale business growth. 

After injuries to Messi and a six-match winless streak marred the conclusion of Inter Miami’s season last year following an initial surge of fan interest, a preseason tour by the club has revealed more problems. 

An ambitious and still-ongoing trip that has included stops in El Salvador, Dallas, Saudi Arabia, and most recently Hong Kong has generated just one win and a tie in five matches. More troubling, a Sunday match in Hong Kong featured fans booing and demanding ticket refunds as both Messi and teammate Luis Suárez did not play due to further injuries. 

Tatler XFEST Hong Kong, organizer of the match, is now withdrawing from roughly $2 million in government grants related to the event. Messi had been a key fixture in prematch advertising, and on Friday, Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said Messi was “likely” to play in Hong Kong, further heightening fan expectations. 

“The [Hong Kong] government, as well as football fans, are extremely disappointed that Messi could neither play in the friendly match, nor explain to the fans in person upon request,” Hong Kong officials said. “The way that the organizer and Inter Miami handled the situation could not meet the expectations of the fans who showed strong support to Messi, especially those visitors who came all the way here for the match.”

The preseason tour further spotlights load management issues that have increasingly become a prevalent concern in soccer, drawing public remarks from other icons in the sport such as French superstar Kylian Mbappé. For Inter Miami, the matches will precede a 34-game MLS regular season, as well as planned appearances in the Leagues Cup and Concacaf Champions Cup—adding to the pressure on the 36-year-old Messi and whether his body will hold up to the demand. 

Two more matches are scheduled for the current Inter Miami preseason tour: Wednesday in Tokyo against Japan’s Vissel Kobe, and back in Miami on Feb. 15 against Argentinian club Newell’s Old Boys. 

The Arizona Coyotes’ long-planned effort to build a new arena and mixed-use development has taken another step forward. But that hasn’t stopped chatter that a move to Salt Lake City might be the preferable outcome. 

The NHL team has filed an application to buy about 200 acres of state trust land in north Phoenix, advancing on recent interest in that area and signaling that the location could be the project’s new home after voters in Tempe, Ariz., rejected building there. The Coyotes confirmed the application, but said other sites remain in consideration, and the team signed a letter of intent last August on a separate parcel in Mesa. 

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, meanwhile, said during the league’s All-Star weekend in Toronto that the Coyotes’ arena situation “will be addressed in the next few weeks.”

“[Team owner] Alex Meruelo told me as recently as last week that he was certain he was going to get this done,” Bettman said. “I don’t make it a practice of contradicting owners unless I have hard facts to the contrary. I’m both hopeful and reasonably confident that he’s going to do what he says.”

Despite Bettman’s confidence, calls persist for the team to move to Salt Lake City, particularly after Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith amplified his efforts to bring an NHL franchise there. The Athletic was the latest to argue for a move to Utah, saying, “The reality is, if the Coyotes can’t get going on a new building and Salt Lake City is ready to go—which Smith says they are—then the easy, and relatively seamless, solution is to transfer Arizona to Salt Lake City.”

NHL Players Association leaders are also voicing concern about the Coyotes’ situation and raising the prospect of relocation. 

“Unfortunately, we’ve had two unofficial deadlines to come up with some movement, and we’ve gone past both of those,” said union executive director Marty Walsh. “If there’s no plan in Arizona, I would encourage a move to another location, absolutely. … They’re playing in a college arena, and they’re the second tenant in that arena. This is not the way to run a business.”

While the arena pursuit continues, the Coyotes are playing at Arizona State University’s 5,000-seat Mullett Arena (above), by far the smallest venue in the NHL.