Major League Soccer has announced a new kick-off time for Atlanta United and Inter Miami's regular season clash on September 16.
When Lionel Messi's decision to join Inter Miami was confirmed, Atlanta United opened up all of Mercedes-Benz Stadium - which can hold 71,00 fans at full capacity - for their September game clash and ticket prices skyrocketed, as expected.
The game was originally scheduled to kick-off at 7:30 PM EST, but that has now been moved up to 5:00 PM EST. Most MLS games take place at the same kick-off time at night, so the league might be wanting to get more viewers on this specific game before the remaining games that day.
In 2023, Atlanta brings in just over 45,000 fans on average for home games, which is head and shoulders above the second-place Seattle Sounders. This figure might sound confusing given that it's significantly less than the stadium's capacity. But Atlanta only opens up the entire stadium a handful of times per season, and it's no surprise that they chose this game in particular to do so.
Atlanta's hope is that Messi will feature in the game in what is expecte to be a sell-out crowd. It would be a spectacle to see Messi and Thiago Almada facing off in a packed out Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and hopefully former Atlanta head coach Gerardo 'Tata' Martino can convince the Argentine that the field there is more than suitable for action. After all, Martino guided the Five Stripes to a 2018 MLS Cup championship while playing on the same turf in the same building.
There have been constant rumors circulating ever since Messi joined Miami that he refuses to play on artificial turf - which is the playing surface in Atlanta's stadium. Interestingly enough, natural grass was rolled out for the Premier League Summer Series games on July 26, but there are currently no plans to install grass for their game against Miami. It makes sense, as Atlanta wouldn't want to go up against Messi late in the season and help their opponents, but it is something to keep an eye on given that they will be expecting a full stadium.
The Lionel Messi era is officially underway - watch live as history unfolds with MLS Season Pass. Click here to subscribe!
This article was originally published on 90min as Atlanta United vs Inter Miami in September given new kick-off time.
