Vancouver Whitecaps and MLS to pay out $347k settlement after Lionel Messi no-show

Vancouver, B.C. — The British Columbia Supreme Court has signed off on a C$475,000 (US$347,000) class-action settlement to be paid jointly by the Vancouver Whitecaps and Major League Soccer after the clubs marketed Lionel Messi’s expected appearance for Inter Miami on 25 May 2024, only for the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner to remain in Florida.

Court documents show that Messi, along with former Barcelona teammates Luis Suárez and Sergio Busquets, featured prominently in billboards, social-media posts and print advertisements that coincided with ticket-price surges of roughly ten times the club’s normal home-game rate. The Whitecaps billed the match as the centerpiece of their 50th-anniversary celebrations, staging street festivals and projecting a record crowd at BC Place.

Forty-eight hours before kick-off, the Whitecaps confirmed that none of the Miami stars would make the 6½-hour flight, citing coach Tata Martino’s decision to rest the trio ahead of consecutive home fixtures. The club responded by halving concession prices and, later, offering complimentary future-game vouchers to certain account holders, moves that did little to placate ticket buyers such as Rachele Renzi, whose brother flew 5,500 miles from Italy expecting to see Messi.

Lead plaintiff Ho Chun, a B.C. resident who paid C$404 for two primary-market tickets, alleged in his filing that the promotional campaign amounted to a “classic bait-and-switch,” violating Canada’s federal Competition Act and provincial consumer-protection statutes. MLS and the Whitecaps denied wrongdoing but elected to settle to avoid prolonged litigation.

Under the approved agreement, the defendants will donate the full C$475,000—minus C$156,000 in legal fees and a C$1,500 honorarium to Chun—to three youth-sports charities: KidSport BC, Canada SCORES and BGC South Coast BC. The Whitecaps have also amended their ticketing terms to state that “player depictions in marketing materials are for reference purposes only” and that match-day rosters cannot be guaranteed. Similar disclaimers will appear on Ticketmaster’s purchase pages.

Justice Andrew Majawa praised the settlement as “fair,” while noting the online harassment directed at Chun for bringing the action. “Being subject to such negative online criticism may discourage people from putting themselves forward as representative plaintiff,” Majawa observed.

The settlement contains no admission of liability and leaves intact the league’s right to promote marquee players without guaranteeing their participation.