Lionel Messi-effect in full swing as MLS executive teases new content ahead of debut Apple docuseries

THE Lionel Messi effect is in full swing as demand for MLS content continues to grow worldwide.

Since arriving in the United States in the summer of 2023, joining forces with David Beckham at Inter Miami, the MLS has enjoyed something of a meteoric rise.

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With games now available to watch worldwide thanks to the league's 10-year $2.5 billion deal with Apple TV, following Messi's arrival, some games last season saw over a million viewers tune in, as per Sports Pro Media.

Meanwhile, stadiums around the country sold out whenever the bright pink Inter Miami circus was in town, as fans flocked to see perhaps the greatest player of all time put on a show, often with a series of celebrities joining them in the stands.

With Apple TV's Messi Meets America having been released late last year, and Messi's World Cup: The Rise of a Legend documentary set to debut in February, the streaming service announced another collaboration with the MLS earlier this month as they continue to make the most of the ever-growing fanfare.

The as-yet-unnamed project will see Box To Box Films, who rose to fame thanks to their Netflix series Formula 1: Drive To Survive, produce an eight-part docuseries giving fans a glimpse behind the curtain throughout the 2024 MLS season.

And it seems that this could be just the tip of the iceberg for the MLS, who have their eyes set on continuing this growth in the coming months and years.

"We had some pretty aggressive targets set for ourselves before Messi got here and they are even more aggressive now, which is good," the MLS' executive vice president of media Seth Bacon told The U.S. Sun.

"The interest that comes with all the growth that we have with Apple as our partner is very high, and then you layer in the greatest player to ever play soccer and you can really start to drive some interest with some folks and we're very fortunate. Apple is a terrific partner.

"We're still focused on making sure that fans have access to our content in some way, whether it's on our league site, our club sites through third-party partnerships, through our social media, and all of that is to make sure that we're being additive to the story about the league and really creating more opportunities for people to say, 'I want more.'

"And the place to get more is MLS Season Pass.

"So, the demand is super high from the fans. It's there from sponsors. It's there from partners. It's there from players.

"And, it's a great time for the league to be where we are right now to capitalize on that and to take all of that interest and turn it into growth."

Bacon explained how the new docuseries "Is a really important project for us because it's going to give us an opportunity to tell different stories from different lenses than I think we've seen in the past."

But while the project will inevitably draw comparisons with the likes of Drive To Survive, the NFL's Hard Knocks, and others, Bacon was keen to point out that the MLS and Box To Box plans to take this in a unique direction.

"We're not going to try and compare this to any other show because I think what the Box To Box folks have done is sort of redefine the genre in some respects," he said.

"The thing that we're really focused on, and I think they're the best in the business at, is having a very light touch and not making it feel like there's a meeting happening or an event happening and they're there with a camera.

"It's almost like they're absorbed into the background and it's like voyeuristic the way that you're experiencing some of these things.

"So that's, that's what we're focused on more than anything and trying to compare it to something else."

Aside from the upcoming docuseries, for which there is no firm release date set, the news from Bacon was overwhelmingly positive.

He said that the debut season of their Season Pass "blew past all the expectations we had," adding, "All the metrics that we set for ourselves at the start of the year, we raced by them and a lot of them we got by them before Messi even joined."

Steadfast in the belief that the MLS has "the best in class sports production, quality in sports right now," Bacon noted how the league is "producing every single match native in 1080p, no other league is doing that around the world at the scale that we're doing that we're producing everything in English and Spanish, over 500 studio shows, hired over 120 talent.

"We did that all in like six months."

Then there was the Leagues Cup - first launched in 2019 - which was expanded in 2023 to allow all MLS and Liga MX clubs to challenge for the title.

"The response in Mexico for that property was really, really encouraging," Bacon said.

"And we think there's a great growth potential there.

"But that's a really good example of how outside of the US we found a way that there was a really compelling storyline and competition element that really resonated with folks."

Looking forward, Bacon teased some impending announcements in the coming weeks.

As for the 2024 season, none other than Messi himself will help kick it off as Inter Miami takes on Real Salt Lake on February 21.

He'll be joined by former Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez, who recently joined the ever-growing ex-Barca contingent donning pink and black.

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