Lionel Messi’s debut kicks off new Leagues Cup format. Sporting’s campaign begins Sunday

On Friday evening, the much-anticipated debut for Lionel Messi on American soil will get underway. It’s also the debut of the new Leagues Cup, a competition every MLS team, including Sporting KC, will take part in for the next month.

Messi’s MLS debut, when Inter Miami and Cruz Azul face off in the first-ever Leagues Cup match, certainly will bring eyeballs globally to Major League Soccer that have never been there before. Vermes compared it to David Beckham’s arrival to the league in 2005.

“He took a major chance, I think, in coming to Major League Soccer,” Vermes told The Star. “He propelled the league into a different dimension of where it was when he first got here.”

But, Vermes continued, “with all due respect to (Beckham), Messi has the ability to go even another level than that.”

In Vermes’ opinion, and that of many others, Messi is the best player ever to play the game. With the weight of that reputation, Messi will demand unprecedented attention.

During his first-ever training session with Inter Miami this Tuesday, more than 200 media members were credentialed and in attendance — just for a training session. A month ago, there were less than five.

With more eyeballs come more dollars. And with more dollars, Major League Soccer will begin to change even more than it has in the last decade. That could even affect rule changes regarding roster building and player acquisitions.

“It’s going to put pressure on the rest of us to up the ante,” Vermes said. “Everybody loves saying, ‘Let’s spend money,’ and I’m sure that’s not what the owners want to hear all the time. But I just think that’s the cost of doing business as the league continues to evolve.”

Messi’s debut is also the new Leagues Cup debut. It existed in a previous iteration on more of an invite-only basis. Sporting received an invite during the 2021 season.

The early version of the Leagues Cup was more of an exhibition-style tournament, pitting Liga MX (Mexico) teams against Major League Soccer teams. Sure, there was some prize money for the winners, but not the multiple Champions League places up for grabs that there is this time around.

Not to mention, there is an expanded bonus pool in this new version. While the total bonus figures have not been made public, a source indicated that the payout for winning the Leagues Cup could eclipse the bonus received for winning the MLS Cup.

There are plenty of incentives to participate. And now both MLS and Liga MX have halted their respective league calendars to allow teams to focus solely on the event.

It differs drastically from Sporting’s situation in 2021. Sporting had played a total of five games in three weeks building up to a 6-1 drubbing from Leon. They opted to play a complete reserve squad in that game as they had two more MLS matches in the coming week.

That drew the ire of some fans and plenty of pundits. Vermes maintained the schedule just didn’t allow for them to compete. But now the Leagues Cup has its own carved-out place on the schedule. Vermes thinks there will be a learning curve for the first couple of years.

“There’s gonna be a way to strategically navigate through a competition like this,” Vermes said. “And at the same time, I think there’s a lot of positives to not having to continue to play the regular season as well.”

Sporting has two group-stage matches against FC Cincinnati and Chivas de Guadalajara from Mexico. Both teams are at the top of their respective league standings at the moment, which provides a difficult task.

Here is how it works: The points system stays the same as the regular season — three for a win and none for a loss. If a game ends in a draw, each team will be awarded one point and there will be a penalty shootout for an extra point, similar to the NHL’s regular-season overtime rules. This process is also the norm for Sporting KC II in MLS Next Pro.

If Sporting avoids finishing last in the group, they advance to the knockout stage, which could set up some juicy matchups down the line with St. Louis City or other Liga MX teams.

Sporting’s Leagues Cup campaign kicks off on Sunday at FC Cincinnati at 6:30 p.m.