Pub-Spiracy: Alexi Lalas Says He Thinks Inter Miami Staged Messi’s Trip To Publix

Last week, Lionel Messi hit the aisles of his local Publix and won over the hearts of MLS and Pub Sub fans the world over. However, Fox Sports soccer analyst Alexi Lalas thinks he smells a set-up.

Forget the Kennedy assassination or the Moon landing, we've got ourselves a possible Pub-spiracy on our hands...

Lalas gave his take on Messi's arrival in the MLS on his podcast Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast. He then floated the possibility that the entire Publix appearance may have been a ruse.

"One of the things that they did was — when I say "did" it's because it was absolutely orchestrated — Messi was in his new town and what do you do when you're in a new town? You stock the refrigerator."

This is true, so then how does this rise to the level of a conspiracy?

"Lo and behold, he turns up at a Publix. For those who don't know, Publix is a ubiquitous grocery store down in that neck of the woods. And lo and behold, he is seen there with a cart full of stuff that he is going to stock in his refrigerator.

'It takes a couple of clicks to go to the Inter Miami website and pull up their corporate partners and woah! Amazing! Publix! There it is!"

Alright, fair (and probably correct) point.

Lalas Is Probably Right About Messi's Publix Photo Op

There were two things I thought when I saw Messi and his family cruising through Publix: 1). that I thought he would have an assistant who does this stuff for him, and 2). that for the money he makes, he could totally afford to shop at Whole Foods.

Still, I held out hope that Messi was a man of the people; a man of the Publix, so to speak.

But Lalas may have hit the nail on the head. Not only did the photo-op churn up some excitement ahead of Messi's introduction with Inter Miami CF, it also reportedly received millions in free publicity.

That sure sounds like a symbiotic publicity move for the club and the grocery store chain.

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