Beckham is back! As owner of new soccer team for Miami
Former England captain David Beckham - supposedly retired - is back as owner of a new soccer team for Miami. He confirmed the city as the future home of a Major League Soccer expansion team that he will own — alongside partners not yet named — and run.
Beckham with Miami mayor Carlos Gimenez
Beckham, 38, made the announcement at a news conference overlooking a sunny Biscayne Bay, with a backdrop of chanting fans - who have been without a local, top-flight team since 2001, when another M.L.S. club, the Miami Fusion, was folded by the league.
“This is an exciting time for myself, for my family and friends,” Beckham told the crowd while perched on a stool between by M.L.S. commissioner, Don Garber, and the mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos Gimenez.
As if to assure Gimenez of his access to deep pockets elsewhere, Beckham made a point of saying that “a lot of great people want to invest in this team and this club,” a remark greeted with cheers, the New York Times reported..
“We don’t want public funding,” he said. “We will fund the stadium ourselves.”
But the news conference raised more questions than it answered said the Times. There is no deal in place for the financing to build a stadium, or to buy or lease the land on which to put it. There seems to be only a vague notion of when the team might start playing in M.L.S. — perhaps in 2016, more likely 2017.
The Miami team would be the 22nd in M.L.S. The league currently has 19 clubs, but it will add two more — New York City and Orlando City — next year.
Beckham had inserted the right to buy a team for $25 million into his original playing contract when he joined the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007, but he had to exercise that option before Dec. 31, 2013. Wednesday’s announcement was merely confirmation that he had done so by the deadline.
Asked why he had chosen Miami for his new venture, Beckham replied, “I mean, why not?”
He said Miami had become a truly international city that was especially appealing to visitors and immigrants from Latin America and Europe.
Beckham and Garber insisted that things had changed since the Fusion folded, and that it was time for Miami to take its place in the booming business of soccer. “Miami is a vibrant city, a city with a lot of passion,” Beckham said. “It’s ready for football, for soccer. And I’m looking forward to spending a lot more time here.”