Inter Miami to scrimmage New England in Sarasota on Thursday, Martinez expected to play

In some ways, Inter Miami has an advantage over most MLS teams because South Florida’s balmy winter weather allows for off-season and preseason training without ever packing a suitcase.

On the other hand, players can get a bit comfortable and complacent training at their home base and living among friends and families during training camp. Inter Miami coach Phil Neville feels a change of scenery is necessary for team bonding and expects the team will come back stronger from its four-day trip to Sarasota this week.

The team left Tuesday afternoon, trained in Sarasota Wednesday, will play a closed-door scrimmage against the New England Revolution, and return home on Friday.

Ten to 12 MLS teams travel to Florida for preseason camps, including Charlotte FC, CF Montreal, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, St. Louis City, Austin FC, Nashville SC, and Houston Dynamo. Some teams train in Arizona and Southern California.

“This trip is coming at just the right time,” Neville said. “We have the best training facility in the whole of MLS, but because we stay at home all the time, the one thing we do lose is that camaraderie and togetherness you get when you travel to a new place for four weeks.

“This week is all about the social, the togetherness side. It’s about our new players Franco (Negri), Serhiy (Kryvtsov), Jake la Cava, (Nico) Stefanelli, and Josef (Martinez) becoming more entrenched in the values of the team.”

Negri, Martinez and Kryvtsov will make their Inter Miami debuts against New England, likely off the bench as they work their way into the first team to peak for the Feb. 25 regular season home opener against Montreal. Jean Mota returns from injury, as well.

Negri, the Argentine left back, joined the club last week. Martinez, the 2018 MLS MVP, arrived from Atlanta last month, and has been getting into game shape. Newly signed Ukrainian center back Kryvtsov got to Fort Lauderdale over the weekend and is in his first week with the team.

Miami has gone scoreless in its two public scrimmages, 3-0 against Vasco da Gama and 4-0 vs. MLS expansion team St. Louis. Neville said he was “very disappointed” with his team’s performance against St. Louis on Sunday and hopes to see better Thursday.

“They’re going to be slightly fatigued because of all the training, but that’s part of the building process toward durability for an 11-month marathon, which this league is,” Neville said. “My expectation of them is far greater than what I saw. Every now and then you need a little bump in the road just to make a few people aware that you can’t cut corners in anything you do.”

MLS kicks off Apple TV plan

Starting Wednesday, fans can sign up for MLS Season Pass, the subscription service now available on the Apple TV app in more than 100 countries. The package includes on-demand content on every club, including team previews, player profiles, and highlight videos. Once the season kicks off on February 25, MLS Season Pass will feature every live MLS regular-season match, the MLS Cup Playoffs, and Leagues Cup all in one place, with consistent match times and no blackouts. It replaces local TV broadcasts.

Fans can watch through the Apple TV app on Apple devices, smart TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes, and game consoles, as well as on the web at tv.apple.com.

MLS Season Pass will also feature pregame and postgame shows and a five-hour live whip-around show. All matches will feature English- and Spanish-language announcers, while matches involving Canadian teams will also offer commentary in French.

Fans can subscribe to MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app for $14.99 per month during the season or $99 per season, and Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up at a special price of $12.99 per month or $79 per season. MLS season tickets will include a subscription to MLS Season Pass and through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share the subscription.

CHEQ is new sponsor

Inter Miami announced a partnership with Miami-based CHEQ, which provides social payments for restaurants, stadiums, hotels, and more, as their exclusive platform for point of sale, premium hospitality, and social gifting transactions at DRV PNK Stadium.

CHEQ will provide a payment platform for fans at DRV PNK Stadium, which will be highlighted by their innovative express kiosks to increase ordering efficiencies and decrease line wait times.