4 June 6-12, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | news | letters | coNteNts | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS | ▼ FORT LAUDERDALE THE MESSI EFFECT MIAMI NAMED ONE OF AMERICA’S BEST CITIES FOR SOCCER FANS. BY RYAN YOUSEFI I t’s amazing what a difference a Lionel Messi can make. As the U.S. Open Cup and Major League Soccer season heat up, Walle- tHub has released its 2024 report on the best American cities for soccer fans. Miami, home of the “Atomic Flea” and the current first-place team in the MLS Eastern Confer- ence, is unsurprisingly near the top of its list. According to WalletHub, data crunching on team performance, stadium quality, and social media engagement, among other fac- tors, reveals that Miami is the ninth-best large city in the U.S. for soccer fans. The study pins Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Orlando, and Washington, D.C., as America’s top five large cities for fútbol fandom. WalletHub’s study compared 300 U.S. cit- ies with at least one college or professional soccer team across dozens of key metrics, in- cluding minimum season-ticket price, atten- dance, fan engagement, stadium capacity, franchise valuation, and number of champi- onships and conference titles. Miami ranked 11th among cities of all sizes — not bad for a place still waiting to truly host its MLS team. Inter Miami currently plays in Fort Lauderdale at DRV PNK Stadium, the team’s home until their new stadium at Mi- ami Freedom Park opens. (Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2025.) Below is a snapshot of how Miami’s soccer fandom metrics stacked up against the rest of the cities in the study: 15th – Performance Level of MLS Team10th – Performance Level of USL (United Soccer League) Team24th – Min. Season-Ticket Price for MLS Game23rd – Min. Season-Ticket Price for USL Game9th – MLS Stadium Capacity7th – USL Stadium Capacity1st – MLS Fan Engagement1st – USL Fan Engagement There’s no doubt that the overhaul of Inter Miami’s roster with Messi at the core has transformed the Magic City from a place where soccer was generally an after- thought into a global center for fútbol fans. Before Messi joined, the team was in a ma- jor rut and sitting at the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference standings. Following his arrival and Inter Miami’s acquisition of his former teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, Inter Miami blazed through the 2023 Leagues Cup to win their first-ever tourna- ment trophy. Miami is now inarguably a soccer town, and that’s reflected in the team’s attendance and fan engagement rankings. Paradoxically, Messi’s arrival appears to have had one detrimental effect on the study ranking. If not for Inter Miami’s expensive ticket prices — the obvious cost of doing busi- ness when Messi is the show in town — Mi- ami may have placed a bit higher in the study. Currently, Inter Miami ticket prices average a hefty $357 per ticket, with the get-in-the- door price hovering above $60, depending on the opponents and day of the week. Miami’s less-followed professional team, Miami FC of the United Soccer League, was also factored into the study. Although Miami FC is currently sitting in dead last place in its division, it still has the most fan engagement in the league, according to the WalletHub study. Methodology To determine the best cities for soccer fans, WalletHub, a personal finance website known for its pop-culture surveys and stud- ies, analyzed U.S. cities across five divisions: MLS (Division I men), National Women’s Soccer League (Division I women), USL (Di- vision II men), and Division I women and men’s college soccer. The cities were evalu- ated using the 52 metrics with varying weight, graded on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the most favorable conditions for soccer enthusiasts. Regarding fan engagement online, the score was determined by assessing a team’s Twitter (now known as X) followers and Facebook “Likes” per capita. With more than 2.5 million “Likes” on Facebook and 1.2 mil- lion followers on X, it’s no surprise that Mi- ami leads soccer fan social engagement. For the full report, visit WalletHub’s Best Cities for Soccer Fans 2024. | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Inter Miami teammates hoist Lionel Messi following their win in the Leagues Cup final on August 19, 2023. Photo by Kevin Cox/Getty Images ▼ MIAMI BARBY...BEHIND BARS? EX-MARCO RUBIO INTERN BARBARA BALMASEDA INDICTED FOR STORMING THE U.S. CAPITOL. BY ALEX DELUCA A former Florida International University student and Miami GOP strategist has been indicted on criminal charges for storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 — finally. Barbara “Barby” Balmaseda — a Miami Lakes native with ties to high-profile Republican politi- cians and the far-right Proud Boys — was ar- rested in December 2023 on a handful of charges related to the riot, including corrupt ob- struction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building, and engaging in disorderly conduct in a Capitol building with the intent to impede a session of Congress. According to court records, on May 22 a grand jury formally indicted Balmaseda, who will turn 24 in June, on all five charges. In response to an emailed request for com- ment, Balmaseda’s attorney, Nayib Hassan, said, “We look forward to presenting a vigorous de- fense on her behalf as we have entered a plea of not guilty. Additionally, we are patiently awaiting the ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on the 1512 allegations, as they may have a direct im- pact on Mrs. Balmaseda’s case.” As New Times previously reported, online sleuths zeroed in on Balmaseda (whom they dubbed #PinkGaiterPBG and #PinkPBGirl) in March 2022 after she was photographed inside the Capitol on January 6 wearing a black-and- pink gaiter and later alongside Proud Boys Ga- briel Garcia and Ethan Nordean, both of whom have been arrested and charged with felonies in connection to the insurrection. In the months prior to the insurrection, Bal- maseda created a Telegram group chat that in- cluded Garcia and other Miami-area Proud Boys, according to an FBI affidavit. Between November 2020 and January 2021, she sent roughly 900 messages in the chat, which she variously renamed “Barby’s Security :)” and “Bar- by’s Security Detail.” According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Balmaseda was seen on video climbing on equipment staged in preparation for the presidential inauguration and later entering the Capitol with Garcia on the day of the riot. “U.S. Capitol Police closed-circuit television captured Balmaseda entering the Capitol build- ing via the Senate Wing door at approximately 2:16 p.m., just four minutes after rioters initially breached the building,” the DOJ alleges. Balmaseda interned for U.S. Sen. Marco Ru- bio between 2018 and 2019, helped to organize Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2018 campaign, and was a campaign manager for Ileana Garcia’s controver- sial 2020 Florida Senate race. She was also previously listed as director at- large on the website of Miami Young Republi- cans and served as regional director for Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends, a group that bills itself as a “free-market climate advo- cacy” campaign. [email protected] BALMASEDA CREATED A TELEGRAM GROUP CHAT THAT INCLUDED GARCIA AND OTHER MIAMI- AREA PROUD BOYS.
