Inter Miami CF starts hasty stretch run to Broward opener
FORT LAUDERDALE – So here was Wednesday’s news: Inter Miami CF’s home opener was announced as March 14. A seventh player was signed. The roof is nearly laid on one side of the yet-to-be-possibly-renamed renamed Lockhart Stadium.
And, as you read that first paragraph, another strip of sod was laid on the field.
“It’ll be done by Monday,’’ said Inter Miami sporting director Paul McDonough of the field, not the franchise. He has all of four months to finish that. They handed everyone a hard hat and a gaudy-yellow
construction vest Wednesday morning upon arriving to the Inter Miami soccer team’s news briefing for reasons of safety and symbolism.
Everything is under construction with this team. Everything has a coming deadline, too. The expansion draft is next week. The naming of a coach will follow soon. And the stadium will be completed, when?
“First, second week of February,’’ McDonough said.
And some big-name international players signed?
“By February,’’ he said. But here’s the big news: It’s happening here, soccer fans. It’s really happening after years of waiting for resolution, watching nothing happen, wandering between sites and wondering why David Beckham didn’t just pick another market.
That’s a legitimate question, right? Why did Beckham put up with the waiting all these years? Why, in fact, does this ownership group still put up with it considering they seem to be moving backward on their preferred, permanent site in Miami?
It’s been more than five years since this process started.
Meanwhile, they’re sinking more than $100 million of their money into this new stadium and facility in Broward, according to McDonough.
They plan to play the first two years here, too. At the very least, those two years can be used to build a fan base in Broward and Palm Beach.
All you know is over the next few months, everything goes from an idea to a team. The big question is players, and they’ve been internet-linked to names at the top like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Let’s be real, though. If Inter Miami signs big names who stepping off the big stage like possibly Edinson Cavani or David Silva, that would put this team in the world’s spotlight. And help the team.
“We’re not looking for anyone coming here to retire,’’ McDonough said. “Anyone who comes here has to want to win a championship.
“People really want to be here. The phone rings a lot. We’re fielding calls. You talk it out, see if their goals align with ours and … it always comes down to money.”
You don’t need to understand soccer to understand that.
The only name they’ve signed anyone recognizes thus far is Tim Robbie, the former Miami Dolphins owner and president who will be the stadium’s general manager. That’s a smart, practical hire for a group needing good experience and local know-how.
Robbie ran South Florida’s first, successful pro soccer team in the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the late 1970s. Now he’s back on the same site to help the latest, biggest team succeed.
Beckham is the international name and Miami businessman Jorge Mas is the money. But this team rises or falls on McDonough’s decisions. He’s in charge of everything.
“I go from bathroom fixtures to designated players,’’ he said.
He had similar roles in starting successful MLS franchise in Atlanta and Orlando. Can he make it three?
This temporarily Broward franchise with a Miami name comes with all sorts of build-in bonuses and challenges. Just seeing the stadium being built, the grass being laid and seeing the space for the big scoreboard represents.
Lockhart Stadium could get a sponsor, too. That could result in a Company X Field at Lockhart Stadium name. Or not. Again, it’s all under construction.
For the past five years, Beckham’s idea of a soccer team in South Florida has wavered between fun and fantasy. But bit by daily bit, as another gets signed and another strip of sod gets laid, it’s happening here. It’s really happening.