Inter Miami beefs up security, adds seats, VIP areas as Lionel Messi joins team
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Messi takes Miami
Lionel Messi has arrived to join Inter Miami with a record-breaking contract. The world’s most famous athlete is taking South Florida by storm.
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Lionel Messi has yet to play a game at DRV PNK Stadium, but already things feel quite different around the venue and adjacent team training facility as the club has been preparing for the arrival of the Argentine icon.
Security has been beefed up at the stadium, the training grounds and the perimeter around the area. One hundred new VIP field level seats were added to the East sideline. And new bleachers were added to the Northeast and Southeast corners of the stadium, increasing capacity from 19,000 to approximately 22,000.
Fans will find enhanced food items on the concession stand menus. There will be increased points of sale for food, beverage and merchandise. And the VIP Midfield Club is getting a makeover.
Before Messi’s announcement on June 7 that he was joining Inter Miami, the team’s morning practice sessions were typically attended by just a few reporters. There were many mornings when the Miami Herald was the only media outlet at the training grounds.
All of that changed during the first week of July, when local, national and international media began showing up as anticipation built toward the arrival of Messi. A handful of Argentine media outlets have a reporter based in Miami full-time to cover Messi, and they chronicle his every move.
There was a helicopter hovering over the facility last Tuesday when Messi and his family arrived in Fort Lauderdale on a private jet. Camera crews have been staking out the player parking lot exits and nearby Commercial Blvd. intersections to catch a glimpse of Messi arriving and departing the training grounds.
Reporters and camera crews from all over the United States and Latin America have descended on South Florida this week. There were so many requests for Messi’s scheduled introductory press conference Monday that the event was moved off-site to accommodate more reporters and photographers.
The club has tightened security as a result of the media crush.
Media members must now RSVP and check in before each training session, have their bags checked or passed over by a security detector wand, and wear wristbands around the training facility. The media parking lot has been reduced to a single entrance and reporters must check in with a team official.
The stadium press box is being expanded from 37 to 52 seats and the auxiliary media seating area in the stands will grow to accommodate the demand.
There are also new security measures in place at field level to try to prevent field invaders, which is a bigger concern when global stars such as Messi are playing.
In Messi’s most recent game in late June, Argentina played Australia in Beijing, China, and 50,000 fans packed the stadium. One young fan wearing his jersey jumped over a barricade onto the field and sprinted around the field trying to give Messi a hug.
In September 2022, during an Argentina vs. Jamaica friendly match in New Jersey, a shirtless field invader sprinted up to Messi, startled him, and asked for his back to be signed. Messi obliged as security guards ran over to pull the fan away. Messi was nearly knocked over by the security guard in the chaotic moment, but he managed to stay on his feet – just as he does when defenders try to take him out.
Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas told a small group of reporters last month that the team has been preparing for the possibility of Messi’s arrival for months. The team protocol for arriving at the stadium on game day has been changed. In the past, players walked across the parking lot from the training facility to the stadium with metal barricades separating them from the fans. Fans were able to interact with the players pregame, cheer and take selfies.
Not anymore.
“Security will obviously be enhanced,” Mas said. “Players will be bused in, going through a secure tunnel. All of those security protocols are already prepared both for here and away. And it’s not only for our games. It’s going to be an everyday occurrence and something we witnessed and I thought handled very well when [Messi] was here with Argentina before the World Cup.
“As you may recall, Argentina trained in Miami before they flew over to Doha. Where we had an opportunity to see some of the Messi mania at our doors on an everyday basis during practice. So, we’re very prepared. We’ve been getting ready for this.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
