North American Major League Soccer's (MLS) Inter Miami has announced a tour of China next month, the club’s first-ever international tour.
Miami will play two Chinese Super League teams in friendly matches, starting with Qingdao Hainiu FC in Qingdao on November 5 at the Qingdao Youth Football Stadium, then playing Chengdu Rongcheng in Chengdu on November 8 at the Phoenix Hill Sports Park.
The Qingdao match will take place at the club’s new 50,000-capacity stadium which opened in April this year, while Chengdu’s Phoenix Hill Sports Park seats 60,000, with the club having been founded in the same year as Inter Miami, 2018.
Inter Miami chief business officer Xavier Asensi said: “We’re very excited to continue to expand our club’s global reach, bringing our team to play in front of incredible fans across the globe. This is a special opportunity to share the passion as we reach new audiences and put ourselves on display in new places, and we’re looking forward to beginning this adventure.”
Miami’s sporting director and chief soccer officer Chris Henderson added: “This will be a great opportunity to continue building on our 2023 campaign, in which we achieved our first-ever trophy.
“We will take this as an opportunity to begin our preparations for 2024, as we look to build on last season and find more success moving forward.”
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By GlobalDataThe tour is made possible by the fact that Miami has failed to qualify for the MLS playoffs, freeing up the space in their calendar where the Chinese tour takes place, as well as the club’s high-profile signings of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba in the summer.
Messi has played in China eight times, most recently in June, scoring one minute and 19 seconds into a friendly match for Argentina against Australia, as well as having won Olympic gold in China, helping Argentina win the title at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Tickets for all of Messi’s previous appearances have sold out quickly in China, due to its big soccer following despite its men’s national team’s lack of success.
The China tour move mirrors Inter Miami owner David Beckham’s own China tour as an LA Galaxy player in 2008. Both Messi and Beckham have large followings in China, as well as various endorsement deals.
The tour comes as Inter Miami continues to capitalize on the arrival of Messi, which has sparked unprecedented commercial interest in the franchise, including sell-out crowds at their home games. His debut alone delivered the highest domestic single network viewing figure for an MLS side since 2004 through Apple TV, the global rightsholder of MLS.
The club has also won the Leagues Cup, the annual competition featuring clubs from MLS and Mexico’s top-tier Liga MX, with Messi scoring the majority of goals.
In August US cruise line Royal Caribbean signed a multi-year partnership with Inter Miami, and Ares Management, the Alternative investment manager, invested a further $75 million into Inter Miami to develop its proposed Miami Freedom Park stadium and other growth initiatives.
