How did Florida become the epicenter of sports in America? A deeper look into the Sunshine State's game-changing last few months

The state of Florida has the entire sports world in America buzzing, but how did they do it?

Firstly, the NHL's Florida Panthers were the last team to make the playoffs. The Panthers had the daunting task of facing the Boston Bruins, who broke NHL records in their historic season.

Not many analysts thought Florida had much of a chance of winning, and after going down 3-1 in the series, everyone had Boston on to the second round. Yet, the Panthers won three straight and then beat the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes to make the Stanley Cup Finals.

Having the Panthers back in the Cup Finals has livened up the state.

"You can sense, just going around town, anywhere you go, that people are talking about the Panthers," said Doug Plagens, who is in his eighth season as the Panthers' radio play-by-play broadcaster and lives within walking distance of the arena. "The buzz is huge. It's really cool to see. … To be able to share a victory with the home fans would be priceless."

"Now you get the electricity back I saw in the early years around South Florida," said Bill Lindsay, a Florida forward from 1993-99 and in 2001-02, who is now the team's radio color analyst.

Not only are the Florida Panthers in the finals, but the Miami Heat are also in the NBA Finals. They, however, find themselves down 2-1 in the series.

Miami, like the Panthers, is the eighth seed and shocked many to get to the finals.

With both Miami and Florida in their respective finals, the atmosphere around South Florida has never been better, both teams say.

“South Florida has been positively electric all playoffs, and it’s been great to see the community get behind our teams as we embark on our championship journeys together,” Heat SVP of brand and chief creative officer Jennifer Alvarez told FOS via email. “The excitement and energy are compounded, and our teams are unquestionably benefiting from it.

“I always try to put the team, the franchise, the community first, and I think it’s great sharing the moment,” says Panthers president and CEO Matthew Caldwell. “One plus one is four here.”

Florida also gets a superstar

Not only have the Panthers and the Heat made Florida the epicenter of the big four sports, but this week, Florida got another major boost to the sports landscape.

It was revealed that the soccer icon and superstar Lionel Messi has signed with Inter Miami of the MLS.

"I made the decision that I'm going to Miami," Messi said. "It is not finalized 100 percent. There are a few things left, but we decided to continue down this path. If Barcelona didn't work out, I wanted to leave Europe, get out of the spotlight and think more about myself."

The news surprised many as Saudi Arabian teams and European teams were after Messi, but he decided to go to South Florida.

Since the signing became official, ticket prices surged to see Inter Miami has seen ticket prices and sales jump. As well, when Miami is on the road, those teams have confirmed they have seen a jump in ticket sales.

As of right now, and for the next week or so, the American sports world is revolving around Florida.