What to Know
- Monday’s expected news comes nearly four years after Beckham announced that he was exercising an option in his former MLS contract.
- Beckham’s franchise would be the second MLS team in South Florida history – the Miami Fusion played four seasons before folding in 2001.
- The project has been stalled for years in part due to the inability to find a location to build a stadium for the franchise.
In what has been a long running saga with politicians, businessmen and sports fans wondering when things would finally come true, it appears we know when the city of Miami will get a new Major League Soccer franchise.
According to the Miami Herald, the investment group led by soccer legend David Beckham will officially announce Monday that they have finalized the deal to bring an expansion team to the area.
No additional details were mentioned, including when and where the announcement would take place or details about the team.
Monday’s expected news comes nearly four years after Beckham, along with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and potential partners that include Marcelo Claure, announced that he was exercising an option in his former MLS contract that allowed him to begin a franchise.
The project has been stalled for years in part due to the inability of the group, called Miami Beckham United, to find a location to build a stadium for the franchise. The first site proposed near Port Miami and AmericanAirlines Arena was scraped not long after the team was announced.
A second plan to build a stadium next to Marlins Park was also abandoned while plans to play games at FIU's football stadium were approved by the county commission in February of 2015 as a backup plan.
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The group continued its search before buying land to build a $200 million, 25,000 seat stadium in Overtown in March 2016 – a purchase that has been met with efforts by local residents and businessmen to block future construction. Miami-Dade County approved a sale of the final piece of land needed for the stadium in June 2017.
When Beckham's group first announced plans for an expansion team, officials pushed for 2018 as the first season. Officials have not said when they expect the team to begin play after the lenghty delays.
Beckham’s franchise would be the second MLS team in South Florida history – the Miami Fusion played four seasons in the league before folding after the 2001 season. The team played their games at Fort Lauderdale’s Lockhart Stadium.
