Tickets for Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami debut selling for outrageous price – here’s what you could get instead

YOU could put your house on Lionel Messi being a sensation in the USA.

Or you could BUY one for the cost of a ticket to see his Inter Miami debut.

Some fans are paying $110,000 (£84k) to watch Messi at home to Mexican team Cruz Azul in the first round of the 2023 Leagues Cup on Friday.

David Beckham’s capture of the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner on a free transfer from PSG is the greatest coup ever for Major League Soccer.

And it could make the largest sporting dent in the bank balances of a few super-rich supporters.

Friday’s average entry price is $487 (£352) but a survey by CNN Business of ticket-selling website Vivid Seats discovered fans coughing up, for just one ticket, the equivalent of two years’ pay for a typical American.

So instead of splashing out £84k to watch Argentinian World Cup winner Messi, what could you buy instead?

For starters, if you’re the type of person who likes to feel safe and secure, rather than excited and awe-inspired, you could fund a whole year of private security.

Not only that, you can chuck in a mid-range Rolex watch with the spare change – to check that your personal guard arrives on time.

But what of the “classic” big spends – home, super-car and holiday?

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The price of a ticket goes a long way – and indeed for a long time, if you fancied a cruise.

You could join heavyweight legend Tyson Fury as a resident of Morecambe on the North West coast of England.

The cheapest places to buy a home in the UK include Middlesbrough, with an average price of £55k, Bradford at £59k and £65k for Sunderland.

But if you want a one-bedroomed home that, in the words of the estate agents, is “close to stunning views of the Bay”, we found a couple on the market in Morecambe for around £81k.

“Close” in this case must be the naked truth because the “Victorian terraced house” is in Park Street, BARE.

If, on the other hand, you’d prefer a car to parade yourself along that seafront – or zoom along the famous Route 66 through Miami to buy an AVERAGE-PRICED ticket to see Inter – how about doing it in a BMW M4 Convertible?

You’d get the same fresh air on your face as if you paid the same sum of £84k for the top ticket.

AND you could probably keep cruising in it for well past the rest of 36-year-old Messi’s playing days.

You’d just have to negotiate down the £89k asking price – or perhaps save money with the £83k BMW 4 Series Coupe.

Of course, you might decide that, if you are diverting the cash from a luxury purchase to see Messi, then the alternative should also be an opulent treat.

For a similar outlay, you could tour the world on a high-class cruise for the length of a football season – nine months.

Royal Caribbean are offering a 274-night voyage with 150 glamorous stops around the globe.

About £64k gets you a “Balcony Stateroom” for one person – which, as we all know, is far superior to an “Interior Stateroom” (£46k) and even an “Ocean View” one (£50k).

Taxes, fees and port expenses come to an extra £4k.

So that leaves you a paltry £16k spending money for nine months … unless you “pushed the boat out” to pay over £90k for a Junior Suite.

Seaside home, supercar, nine-month luxury cruise, or a ticket to watch Messi in Miami?

As the great man himself must have thought when he rejected hundreds of millions in Saudi Arabia in favour of joining Becks, it’s a tough choice but someone has to make it.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk