FORT LAUDERDALE.- The first playoff game for the MLS Cup of Lionel Messi with the Inter Miami It will be October 25. And it will be broadcast live on a giant screen that will span an entire block of New York’s Times Square.
MLS announced Thursday that Inter Miami’s first game will be the only playoff game that will be played that Friday night, at 8:30 a.m. East Coast. It is a slight adjustment to the MLS Cup schedule, as the playoffs were originally going to begin on October 26.
Inter Miami captured the Supporters Shield, awarded to the league’s best regular-season team, on Wednesday night with a 3-2 win at Columbus. The club also has the advantage of closing each playoff tie at home and would host the MLS Cup final on December 7 if it reaches it.
“We have a great advantage, that we will play all the games at home, which was what we were looking for,” said Messi. “Going out to play in any stadium in MLS is not easy, we are very strong at home, we have that advantage, but Then you have to prove it.”
The Supporters Shield extended Messi’s record of trophies to 45, among his various clubs or with the Argentina national team. Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup last season in Messi’s first year with the club, but did not qualify for the MLS playoffs.
special treatment
MLS also announced that there will be a few different broadcast elements for Inter Miami’s first playoff game. Apple TV will broadcast the game to its customers, regardless of whether they have an MLS Season Pass subscription or not. It will also be broadcast live on a 25,000-square-foot screen on Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets in New York’s Times Square.
Inter Miami will open the playoffs in a best-of-three series against the winner of the Eastern Conference wild card game, which will be played on October 22. The full MLS Cup playoff bracket won’t be set until Oct. 19, the final day of the league’s regular season.
Playing the game on Friday night in Fort Lauderdale also avoids the possibility of conflicts with other major sporting events in South Florida that weekend, such as the well-known rivalry between Miami and Florida State, which will make a comeback in football. College American on Oct. 26, and NASCAR, which has a playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway that weekend.