The Draw to South Beach
There’s loads to be said about Miami and South Beach. It has a reputation for its beaches, rich Latin culture, and many others. The aspect that has made the strongest impact recently is quite clearly the sports scene. The Miami Heat and Florida Panthers share the slice of paradise with championship aspirations even as the underdogs. Then, an asteroid-sized piece of news came in; the arrival of arguably the best footballer of all time.
Lionel Messi has been known for a laundry list of accomplishments over his legendary career. He is a three-time Champions League winner with Barcelona and a superstar in his home country of Argentina. The only thing missing until recently was a World Cup title. Now how will his arrival affect Miami as a whole? Also, what makes it the destination to be other than the clear blue water for athletes?
The Miami Heat
Ever since Pat Riley took over as coach of the Heat in the early 2000’s, he changed the culture. Prior to that the franchise overall was lacking identity. This changed with adding a young man by the name of Dwayne Wade from Marquette University. Given control of basketball operations, Reilly bolstered around Wade and legend Alonzo Mourning. One important piece pieces has been Udonis Haslem. To this day he remains on the team for the purpose of being a team leader in the locker room.
It didn’t hurt that the roster added a person that everyone may have heard of named Shaquille O’Neal. They managed to capture an NBA Championship in 2006, just after Shaq joined the team. After that was the next move that shattered news waves. Lebron James took his talents down to South Beach. That was the cue for Erik Spoelstra to take over as head coach. All this star power catapulted the Miami Heat into the mainstream market. It’s pretty obvious that basketball in South Beach has overachieved. Being an 8th seed at this very moment they are creating a culture beyond the hardwood.
The Florida Panthers
This team on the ice is ironically from the “Sunshine State.” They’ve proving every analyst, fan and coach’s expectations wrong these playoffs. Very similar to the basketball team, the Panthers are playing with house money as the analogy goes. At this point, there is very little pressure after knocking off the Boston Bruins. That on its own is a incredible accomplishment. To those who have been in a cave, the Bruins had the best regular season in NHL history.
The influx of popular and ticket sales especially have been staggering. The actual number was last year at 7 million in ticket revenue. That was the lowest in the relatively brief franchise history. Now, take that number into account and digest that number. The ticket sales from the 2021-22 season were vastly improved. Only up to a mere 37 million after one fiscal year.
The Truth of it all & The ‘Messi’ Truth Going Forward
The biggest question that has been going on the past few days has revolved around South Beach. Lionel Messi, though he doesn’t need an introduction, has agreed to sign with Inter Miami. This came as a surprise to the Saudi Pro League, who offered over a BILLION dollars over 5 years. Taking the politics and business out of it, this is another massive step for the city of Miami.
It helps to suitors that Florida has no state income taxes. It’s obviously a hot spot most of the year (no pun intended) while having a growing fanbase for the roundball and puck. Now the most global popular sport that now has the most popular icon. This just proves that the sports scene in Miami is on the rise.
