When my coworkers found out I was pregnant, they gifted my unborn son a teeny tiny Lionel Messi jersey. That was his first of many jerseys he has had in his eight years of life.
I’m from Argentina, and a huge soccer fan. I’m the kind of person who watches every World Cup match and any other time Argentina plays. I’m also, obviously, a huge Messi fan. I once even became a viral meme when my shadow resembled his face, and 12 years later, people still tag me on social media.
While vacationing in South Florida, I took my family to see Messi play for Inter Miami at their brand-new stadium. While it was an expensive outing, our group, ranging in age from 6 to 81, had a blast.
We were seated so close to the field
Because it was the first time my kids were seeing Messi play live, we decided to splurge on tickets close to the field. We were seated in row 5 and paid $230 per ticket for the seven of us.
I’m used to other stadiums in the US, where you end up not being close to the field at all. I was surprised at how close we were to the players this time. We were able to see Inter Miami warm up right in front of our section, and had players wave and interact with us.
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Once the game started, Messi took a corner kick right where we were, and my kids were amazed to see their idol so close up.
The stadium is great, but accessibility isn’t
The Nu Stadium, which opened in early April, reportedly cost $1 billion to build, and as someone who has attended many soccer matches, I can see why the price tag was so high.
We paid $47 for a parking pass despite it being recommended to use the train to get to the stadium. It was the right thing for my family since my kids still use car seats, and the walk from the train station to the stadium is 1.2 miles.
The outside area of the stadium is covered in turf, where you can find plenty of food trucks and drink carts. The area also has picnic tables, portable bathrooms, and tons of activities for kids and adults. My daughters and I got our cheeks decorated with pink glitter, we took photos with pink inflatables, and all my kids got pink sunglasses and tons of pink candy.
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Inside the stadium, the seats are so incredibly comfortable, which really surprised me. There are screens all over the stadium, so you don’t miss any key plays while buying more drinks or going to the bathroom. Speaking of bathrooms, I never had to wait more than a minute to use them, even during halftime.
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That said, accessibility wasn’t great. The parking lot area is still being finished, and my dad — who uses a walker — had a hard time navigating the dirt areas that were still left untouched. When we arrived at our gate at the stadium, we were told we needed to walk past two more gates because only one elevator was working. That said, the employees were super helpful, helping us store my dad’s walker once we got to our seats and offering a wheelchair to help us get to the parking lot after the game.
Beers were $20, and waters sold out
While I know prices in stadiums are inflated because you can’t bring anything inside, I was still surprised by the $20 beers. I still bought one because the Miami heat in April is no joke.
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During halftime, my kids wanted water. It took me the full 15-minute break to find water, since every stand I went to had sold out, even at a $7 price per can.
While it was an expensive outing that took up half of our day (and went way past our kids’ bedtime), we all had such a good time. My kids can’t wait to tell their friends about seeing Messi play, and I’ve caught my dad sending photos of him and his grandchildren in the stadium to all of his friends.
