Messi latest superstar to choose Miami, the ‘best spot to be if you’re an athlete right now’

It took Tua Tagovailoa a few seconds to process the information presented to him.

The Miami Dolphins’ quarterback had just finished watching “Ted Lasso,” the three-season Apple TV series about an American football coach who gets hired to coach a Premier League soccer club, and thought the question was a joke stemming from that.

Tagovailoa, naturally, made sure to double check what he had just heard.

“We’re getting Lionel Messi?” Tagovailoa asked, in a tone similar to the way several “Ted Lasso” characters reacted to a subplot development early in the show’s final season.

Yes, Messi is coming to Miami.

The soccer legend is signing a two-and-a-half year deal with Inter Miami that includes an option for 2026. His salary, bonuses and equity in the team will reach a total value of $125 million to $150 million. Contributions from MLS sponsors Apple and adidas are still being finalized and based on the growth of the league that Messi is expected to generate.

“That’s awesome,” Tagovailoa said. “Got another superstar. Big, big names out here in Miami. It’s good for the culture out here.”

Indeed, Messi is the latest — and highest-profile — superstar to descend upon South Florida.

But the superstars have been making their presence known in the area and beyond for some time now.

The Miami Heat, led by stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, is playing in the NBA Finals after entering the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Florida Panthers, led by stars Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Sergei Bobrovsky, are in the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in franchise history.

The Dolphins, trying to make a statement in Year 2 under coach Mike McDaniel, have Tagovailoa, wide receiver Tyreek Hill and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

Even the Miami Marlins have some burgeoning stars in the baseball world in Luis Arraez, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Sandy Alcantara who are helping them make an early push in Skip Schumaker’s first year as manager.

And this comes right after both the University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University had immense March Madness success, with the Hurricanes’ and Owls’ men’s basketball teams both reaching the Final Four and the UM women reaching the Elite Eight.

From year-round marquee events to being one of 10 metropolitan areas with a team in all five male pro sports leagues, South Florida has always had its spot in the sports world.

But now, with the sweeping success and the star power to boot? It’s safe to say South Florida has the sports world’s attention.

“It’s the best spot to be if you’re an athlete right now, that’s for sure,” Tkachuk said Thursday. “We’re lucky that we are surrounded by other great franchise and it’s such a great area of the country to live in. Yeah, it seems like each team and it doesn’t matter what league [is having success]. ... We’re all lucky, very lucky, to live here and be able to play a sport that we love. And it just so happens that every other team around us is doing really well as well.”

‘Idol is coming’

It didn’t take long for the Messi news to reverberate around the South Florida sports landscape.

Marlins outfielder prospect Victor Mesa Jr., who in December got a tattoo of Messi managed to get a “Mesa Jr.” Marlins jersey to Messi two years ago. It was a moment Mesa called a “dream come true.”

Mesa’s reaction to the news that Messi was signing with Inter Miami?

“[M]y idol is coming,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Heat posted a welcome message on the Kaseya Center video board in the fourth quarter of their NBA Finals Game 3 matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. The Marlins posted a video on their Twitter account, with Chisholm and veteran first baseman (and avid soccer fan) Yuli Gurriel welcoming the seven-time Ballon d’Or trophy winner to Miami. The Dolphins posted a video of players dribbling a mini soccer ball at practice with the caption “Just MESSIng around”

“He is one of the greatest players to play that beautiful game,” Butler said Thursday. “I’m so excited for the city of Miami to be able to have a player of that caliber here. I’m excited for the city of Miami in so many different ways. Obviously us being in the Finals and having an opportunity to do something special. Now that he is here, I think all the football/soccer fans from all over the world are going to come here and get an opportunity to watch him compete. I’m glad he is here.”

Teams winning, supporting each other

While Messi is getting fans excited about the future, don’t forget about the present.

The Heat and Panthers are on parallel playoff runs that haven’t been seen before.

Yes, there have been 10 previous instances of NHL and NBA teams from the same metro area both being in their respective league’s final, but never has it happened when both teams were the No. 8 seed in their respective conference.

Both teams also have never won in the same year, although the Heat and Panthers will both need to claw their way back to make that part a reality. Both are down 2-1 in their best-of-7 series heading into their respective Game 4s, with the Heat playing the Nuggets on Friday and Panthers playing the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.

And the hometown teams are supporting and encouraging each other through the respective runs.

Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, Heat captain and Miami native Udonis Haslem, “Mr. Marlin” Jeff Conine and McDaniel have banged the drum at FLA Live Arena before Panthers playoff games.

Butler wore a Tkachuk jersey at practice during the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Bruins, a notion Tkachuk appreciated.

“They’re in a very similar spot as us. They’re like the underdogs and going into each series, and kind of just believing in their team. And he’s one of the leaders in that and kind of like the emotional leader,” Tkachuk said then. “I love watching him play, especially more being down in Florida, seeing him more than I ever have. I’m very impressed with him. He’s a gamer. He’s pretty dialed in with what he’s done these playoffs.”

McDaniel, who went 9-8 and reached the playoffs in his first year as Dolphins head coach, has been courtside at various points during the Heat playoff run and has attending Panthers games during their run to the Stanley Cup Final. Several Dolphins players were at the Panthers’ Game 3 overtime win over Vegas on Thursday, including Tagovailoa, cornerback Xavien Howard and defensive lineman Jaelan Phillips.

And while the focus on those nights are the teams playing — the Heat and the Panthers — the Dolphins have been getting love from fans, too.

“It has been unbelievable,” McDaniel said this week. “The support, the excitement, just the general enthusiasm for the Dolphins when I’m at an event that is an organization’s pinnacle of working for an entire year to get in to — these playoff games that are hard to get to. That, by itself has been unbelievable. I’ve tried to share it, too, with the team as much as I can. They know they feel it when they’re out and about as well. So the team within this building is very aware and definitely finds exuberance from all of the juice that is in South Florida right now.”

Meanwhile, down at loanDepot park, the Marlins have the potential of magic brewing as well in Schumaker’s first year as manager. They entered their series against the Chicago White Sox on Friday with a 35-28 record that has them in second place in the National League East.

Arraez, who they acquired this offseason, is looking to become the first player to finish a season with a .400 batting average since 1941. The Marlins as a whole are looking to make the playoffs in a non-shortened season for the first time in two decades since they won the 2003 World Series.

But their regular-season success has taken a backseat in the grand scheme of the sports scene for the moment to the Heat and Panthers as they try to close out their seasons with a title.

In the meantime, the Marlins are supporting their fellow teams — they flew to Chicago on Wednesday wearing Heat jerseys and have worn Panthers gear throughout their playoff run as well — and hoping to get to a position where those teams will do the same for them come October.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Schumaker, who attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday with his family. “Obviously this is the first time I’ve been in Miami other than playing a three-game set, but to be part of it — the NHL playoffs, the NBA playoffs, Messi coming to town, it’s a pretty special time here, but once all those games are over and they win the championships, hopefully we can start filling up our seats because we’ve got a guy hitting .400, a Cy Young Award winner. We’ve got good things happening here, too, but it’s an exciting time to be here.”

It extends beyond the teams

But even beyond the Panthers and the Heat, beyond the Dolphins and the Marlins, beyond Messi, Miami’s footprint in the sports world is far reaching with its track record for hosting big name events.

Hard Rock Stadium hosted the Super Bowl in 2020 and South Florida has hosted a record 11 times overall. It hosted the College Football Playoff championship in 2021 and will again in 2026, at which point it will become just the second venue to host multiple CFP title games (Atlanta hosted the 2018 championship and will again in 2025). The Miami Open tennis tournament, played at Hard Rock Stadium since 2910 after 32 years at Key Biscayne, draws the best stars from the sport each year. Formula One was here last month for its second year with Miami on the circuit.

Speaking of auto racing, Homestead-Miami Speedway is part of NASCAR’s playoff series.

loanDepot park, home of the Marlins, hosted the majority of the World Baseball Classic in March and will host the Caribbean Series next spring as it continues to expand its international baseball presence.

And this doesn’t even take into account all the international soccer friendlies that take place here and the role Miami will play in the 2026 World Cup.

So yes, South Florida has always had its spot in the sports world.

And now, probably more than ever, it has the sports world’s attention.

Miami Herald sportswriters Anthony Chiang and Daniel Oyefusi contributed to this report.