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David Beckham announces launch of his MLS Miami team David Beckham wants to bring Class of '92 spirit to his Miami MLS team
(about 1 hour later)
Former England captain has endured long journey to found clubFormer England captain has endured long journey to found club
Beckham paid $25m for rights to new expansion franchiseBeckham paid $25m for rights to new expansion franchise
Chris Smith in MiamiChris Smith in Miami
Mon 29 Jan 2018 17.34 GMTMon 29 Jan 2018 17.34 GMT
Last modified on Mon 29 Jan 2018 20.20 GMT Last modified on Mon 29 Jan 2018 22.01 GMT
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An emotional David Beckham said Miami had made his “dream had come true” after finally becoming a Major League Soccer team owner. The Miami MLS side plan to enter the US top flight as its 25th team in 2020. An emotional David Beckham said Miami had made his “dream come true” after finally becoming a Major League Soccer team owner. The Miami MLS team plans to enter the US top-flight as its 25th team in two years.
The new club, which is yet to be named, was rubber-stamped by MLS 1,454 days after the former England captain arrived in Miami pledging to bring a professional team to the city. Now, with most of the hurdles cleared, the MLS commissioner, Don Garber, has awarded Miami a franchise that will bring professional football back to the city for the first time since 2001. The new club, which is yet to be named, was rubber-stamped by MLS 1,454 days after the former England captain arrived in Miami pledging to bring a professional team to the city. Now, with most of the hurdles cleared, MLS commissioner Don Garber has awarded Miami a franchise that will bring professional football back to the city for the first time since 2001.
Yet there are still questions. Fans will be heavily involved in selecting the colours and name for the team. It will likely play in a temporary home until a new 25,000-seat stadium in the Overtown area of the city is completed. Speaking to the UK media following the event, Beckham emphasized his Miami team will seek to bring in top stars, but also rely on an academy model to develop homegrown talent. The former England captain expressed a desire to replicate the success of the ‘Class of ‘92’ – the group of young players who emerged to forge over a decade of success at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson’s guidance.
During a press conference short on real detail, Beckham told a packed crowd of raucous fans and dignitaries at the Adrienne Arsht Center: “When I was awarded the team there was only one city for me – and it was here. I was drawn to this city for the same reason millions are, the diversity, the culture, the weather, the beaches and the people. “We want to reach for the stars, we want the best players in, but more importantly for us we want to create a state of the art academy where we have a hotbed of talent in this part of America,” he said. “If we get that right, that will make us and the people of Miami even more proud to support their team, because they’re seeing young kids, their sons, coming into this team and have the chance to play professional football.”
“I had calls from top players, I’m not going to say who, saying: ‘I’m in.’ Of course we want to bring the top players in from Europe but the thing we’re most interested in is top homegrown talent. Monday’s announcement brings to a close a long saga during which failed stadium initiatives, local political maneuvering and a search for additional investment threatened to derail the project. A major breakthrough came last June, when the investment group secured the final three-acre plot of land necessary to build the new arena in the city’s Overtown district, describing it last year as “the last chance to get a stadium or soccer team.”
“We’ll build a state-of-the-art academy. That’s how you build a community. When you see talented young players go on and represent their country, that’s when we’ll sit back and say: ‘Job done.’ That’s when we’re going to be proud of it.” The project remained on the verge of collapse until local construction magnates the Mas brothers, Jorge and José, joined the ownership group in December shortly after losing out on the bidding to buy the Miami Marlins baseball team.
Garber hailed a “historic day in our league and in the history of Miami sports”. “[The struggle to found the club] speaks to our desire to have an MLS team in Miami,” said Commissioner Garber. “This is a very important city in our country. It’s very culturally diverse, it’s got enormous energy and a Hispanic and Latino culture that really is one of the key demographic drivers in our country, which as you all know, is more important now than at any other time, in terms of what that means politically.”
The announcement comes after years of failed stadium initiatives, local political manoeuvring and a search for additional investment. A major breakthrough came last June, when the investment group secured the final three-acre plot of land necessary to build the new arena in the city’s Overtown district, describing it last year as “the last chance to get a stadium or soccer team.” Beckham’s group has long envisioned a European-style “walk to the match” in the historically African American neighbourhood, where there is still ardent opposition and an ongoing legal appeal. It’s a couple of miles away from the initially-proposed waterfront location next door to the NBA’s Miami Heat, but a world away in terms of the glamour originally sought by Beckham in 2014.
However, the project remained in serious doubt, until local construction magnates the Mas brothers, Jorge and José joined the group in December. “No longer will you drive to a game and drive home. We’ll have drums, chants, pre-game, post game. We’re going to rock it,” Jorge Mas added. Beckham added: “I’m English, so I’m coming into this wanting to learn, but I want to be a good neighbour. I don’t want to have any problems and obviously we want to make people happy.”
The group has long envisioned a European style “walk to the match” in the historically African-American neighbourhood, where there’s still ardent objection and an ongoing legal appeal. It is a couple of miles away from the initially proposed waterfront location next door to the NBA’s Miami Heat but a world away in terms of the glamour originally sought by Beckham in 2014. The investment group is also bringing “every penny” to build the new arena after the city, stung by the construction of the Marlins Park baseball stadium at an estimated public cost of $2.4bn over 40 years, closed the public purse strings to new stadium projects.
The investment group is also providing “every penny” to build the new arena after the city, stung by the construction of the Marlins Park baseball arena at astronomical estimated public cost of $2.4bn over 40 years, closed off the purse strings to new stadium projects. That financial burden was lessened by Beckham’s right to purchase an MLS expansion franchise for only $25m. Part of the contract that brought him to the LA Galaxy in 2007, it is a very agreeable deal. Nashville will have to pay a reported $150m expansion fee to become the league’s 24th team. That financial burden was lessened by Beckham’s right to purchase an MLS expansion franchise for just $25m. Part of the contract that brought him to the LA Galaxy in 2007, it’s a very agreeable deal. Nashville will have to pay a reported $150m expansion fee to become the league’s 24th team.
Beckham is bringing plenty of financial clout to the project. Marcelo Claure is the CEO of US mobile network Sprint, while the SoftBank founder and CEO, Masayoshi Son, joins the Mas brothers. The British entertainment mogul Simon Fuller is also on board. The appetite for the football in the city is currently at its highest since the Miami Fusion folded back in 2001. Recently, while Beckham’s group wrangled with politicians, second-tier Miami FC, co-owned by Italian legend Paulo Maldini, has come to the fore. The team made it to the quarter-finals of the US Open Cup last season drawing crowds upwards of 10,000 during the run. The MLS team, with Beckham behind it and rapid support already in place, will hope to build on that.
The appetite for the football in the city is currently at its highest since the Miami Fusion folded back in 2001. Recently, while Beckham’s group wrangled with politicians, second-tier Miami FC, co-owned by the Italian legend Paolo Maldini, has come to the fore. The team made it to the quarter-finals of the US Open Cup last season, drawing crowds upwards of 10,000 during the run. Eric Braz, founding member of the Miami MLS Southern Legion Supporters Group, until Monday the game’s loyalest fans without a team, said: “My life is complete again. This is going to bring the community together around soccer. We set this group up in a bar 10 years ago. There were times we thought this wasn’t going to happen, but today we finally get to celebrate.”
Eric Braz, founding member of the Miami MLS Southern Legion Supporters Group, until Monday the game’s loyalest fans without a team, said: “My life is complete again. This is going to bring the community together around soccer. We set this group up in a bar 10 years ago. There were times we thought this wasn’t going to happen but today we finally get to celebrate.”
David BeckhamDavid Beckham
MLSMLS
MiamiMiami
US sportsUS sports
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