Where to watch Messi - and drink a Messi Magarita - as Inter Miami plays for Leagues Cup title

One is using its back patio for the hundred or so fans who show up to watch the latest South Florida sports superstar on a large screen while downing a few pints.

One signed up for the MLS package and shows the matches on about 27 screens scattered throughout the bar to accommodate fans who have jumped on the bandwagon of the trendiest team in sports.

One created a "Messi Margarita" and will offer free Jell-O shots each time Inter Miami scores.

One had ESPN on-site doing cut-ins during the 2018 World Cup and now sees that same excitement level building for the local club.

Messi Mania is proving to be very good for business.

When Lionel Messi and Inter Miami — Inter Messi? — walk onto the pitch Saturday in Nashville for the championship game of the Leagues Cup, fans decked out in pink jerseys with Messi's No. 10 on the back will flock to the most popular soccer pubs and bars in the area to watch the greatest to ever play his sport continue to transform the hometown team.

Messi's addition to Inter Miami has energized a fan base and turned a niche sport and moribund team into must-see TV.

"You got the biggest sport in the world, which most of the world has played, and this guy is the best player to play that sport in its history," said Niall Costigan, the general manager of O'Shea's Irish Pub in downtown West Palm Beach.

"Now, he's in Miami, playing a 40-minute drive away."

Inter Miami plays its home games at DRV PINK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

More: Lionel Messi speaks: On living in South Florida, reforming Inter Miami | D'Angelo

Or as Mark Snyder, owner of the Blue Anchor Pub in Delray Beach, said: "It's growing. The crowds are getting bigger. We're excited, we're ready for the next game. We're advertising it."

Pubs and bars throughout South Florida are preparing for Inter Miami's match Saturday, and then the rest of the MLS season, hoping Messi's arrival is as beneficial to their bottom lines as it has been for Inter Miami's. A victory against Nashville will bring Inter Miami its first championship in its five-year history.

The club, which was winless in 11 consecutive matches before Messi arrived, has won six in a row in Leagues Cup play. Inter Miami has scored 21 goals in those six games, nine by Messi.

Here are four places to catch Messi Mania Saturday and moving forward:

O'Shea's Irish Pub

Costigan's father, Maurice, owns O'Shea's. The family is from Cork, the second-largest city in Ireland. O'Shea's is considered the place to go for anything soccer in West Palm Beach and has its own club in the United Premier Soccer League, O'Shea's FC, which is coached by Maurice.

And O'Shea's is known for more than its St. Patrick's Day block parties.

"When people think of soccer and think, 'Where are we going to go watch it?' they think O'Shea's," Niall Costigan said.

O'Shea's has hosted an Inter Miami fan club in the past, but the number of people who showed up typically could fit at one table … for four. Now, they pack the pub's large back patio.

"Almost everyone who walks in is wearing either pink or black with Messi and No. 10 on the back," Niall said. "And any time Messi gets the ball people are on their toes."

Irish Brigade

Lauren Mazoli, a rep for Southern Wine and Spirits, made the suggestion to general manager Nicole Nichols that the Lake Worth Beach pub on Lake Avenue create a Messi Margarita. The drink will be on special for $10 during Inter Miami's match with Nashville, and free Jell-O shots will be served each time Miami scores a goal.

"We have so many soccer fans that come here for other games," said Nichols of the Liverpool supporter pub. "But ever since Messi, there are a lot more coming out wearing pink … pink hats, pink shirts."

And now reaching for a pink drink.

So, what's in a Messi Margarita? Two ounces of Codigo Rose tequila, 1.5 ounces of pureed watermelon to give it the pink color, 1.5 ounces of fresh lime juice and half an ounce of organic agave. Garnish with a lime slice, watermelon cube and a pink flamingo stirrer.

"It gets super loud (during the matches)," Nichols said. "The kids are covering their ears, all the adults are hooting and hollering."

And that was before she started serving Messi Margaritas.

DAS Beer Garden

Owner Alex Marquez is from Venezuela, his parents are from Spain. Now living in the U.S., he says he has a "triple alliance."

DAS Beer Garden in downtown Abacoa in Jupiter was named one of "The Top 100 Sports Bars to Watch the World Cup," by Yelp in partnership with FOX Soccer.

The bar offers free beer each time the U.S. scores a goal in World Cup play, which got pretty costly in 2019 when the women crushed Thailand 13-0. This year's women's national team, unfortunately, went easy on the business. The U.S. was eliminated in the Round of 16 and scored just four goals in the tournament.

Now, after Marquez signed up to show MLS matches, soccer fans are filling the bar to watch Inter Miami on his 27 screens.

"The interest was there," Marquez said about American soccer, "but not like this. Now we have people calling in advance to see if we are showing the game."

The bar always had a big Messi following when he was playing for Barcelona and during the World Cup, especially the World Cup. Marquez said the bar "had lines around the corner" for last year's championship game in which Messi won his first World Cup.

Now, those same fans arrive wearing pink.

And for anyone who wants to pull a night-day soccer doubleheader Saturday and Sunday, following Inter Miami's 9 p.m. match Saturday, DAS Beer Garden will be opening at 5:30 a.m. Sunday for the Women's World Cup final between Spain and England.

Blue Anchor Pub

Owner Mark Snyder said the pub is mostly an English Premier League bar and was full Sunday for Liverpool's match against Chelsea.

And during World Cups, fans spill onto Atlantic Avenue, especially five years ago when ESPN showed up to give the pub some pub.

But those fans have found another reason to visit the heart of Delray Beach, one of the county's hippest destinations.

"Every match we are showing we get more and more people," Snyder said. "It started with a couple of tables, now it's growing. The crowds are getting bigger, they are wearing (Messi) shirts. We're excited. We're ready for the next game.

"As he keeps playing well, and they keep playing well, the excitement will continue to grow."

With that, Snyder had to cut the interview short.

"I've got to run now because I got to put the UEFA Super Cup on TV," he said. "Manchester City vs Sevilla."

Dani Rojas' catchphrase on Ted Lasso is an emphatic "Futbol is life." In South Florida, Messi has breathed life into futbol.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Messi has been good for business and made Inter Miami must-see TV in South Florida