David Beckham remains confident in one day bringing his own Major League Soccer franchise to the city of Miami, despite recent reports that Miami Beckham United (Beckham’s MLS investment group) have experienced significant pushback from local politicians in South Florida.
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Beckham, who along with MLS commissioner Don Garber announced last February his intentions to bring an MLS franchise to Miami, spoke recently with EOnline.com about his efforts — and struggles — to build a stadium in Miami. Beckham, 39, also spoke in the interview about life now that his playing days are done, as well as where he’s working out to stay in shape these days.
From E!:“We’re pretty close to announcing certain things and then the stadium will come after that. You can’t build a stadium overnight, so finding the right site, finding the right place in Miami is important for us. But it will all start coming together pretty quickly and everything will start happening pretty soon. I’m really excited about that. Being an ex soccer player to have my own team, I’m excited about that.”
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“I’m at SoulCycle a lot. Yup, I’m very obsessed. It’s a workout that I love. It’s a workout I enjoy and to be honest since I finished playing there aren’t too many workouts that I do enjoy. So when you find one, you stick with it.”
Following numerous oppositions of potential Miami stadium sites (see examples, HERE and HERE), many have gone so far as to question whether Beckham’s Miami franchise will ever be officially awarded (Beckham and Garber’s announcement was little more than a declaration of intention, rather than an official establishment).
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Garber himself confirmed that the awarding of an MLS franchise to Beckham’s group is contingent upon a soccer-specific stadium in downtown Miami. “If we don’t get the right stadium, we’re not going to Miami,” Garber said during his annual “State of the League” address in December.
Beckham is right in saying a stadium can’t be built overnight — just ask a whole host of already-existing MLS teams for confirmation of that — but time is absolutely ticking on Beckham’s Miami project as a number of other cities line up for their shot at MLS expansion.
