Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

Beckham adds new investor to Miami group

Dodgers part-owner joins effort for MLS franchise

- By Matthew DeFranks Staff writer

David Beckham is another step closer to bringing a Major League Soccer franchise to Miami, adding Todd Boehly to his investment group, a source familiar with the discussion­s confirmed to the Sun Sentinel.

Boehly is a part-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the CEO and chairman of Eldridge Industries. Previously, he served as the head of Guggenheim Investment­s. Boehly will join an investment group that includes the English soccer star Beckham, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure, entertainm­ent mogul Simon Fuller and Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke.

The Daily Mail was first to report Boehly’s involvemen­t.

Finding capable investors has held up Beckham’s quest for a Miami franchise. The group, called Miami Beckham United, has been trying to bring an MLS team to Miami since February 2014, when Beckham exercised a $25 million option to purchase a franchise.

The Miami team is slated to be the league’s 24th team, and MLS commission­er Don Garber recently said that “it’s time to either move forward, or not.”

A MBU spokespers­on declined to comment.

The group is on its fourth different stadium proposal, the most recent one in the Miami neighborho­od of Overtown. MBU has purchased six acres of privately owned land, but still has to buy three acres of land from Miami-Dade County.

Previous proposals at the Port of Miami, next to the American---

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