Owning MLS Miami team is ‘dream’ for Beckham

Thursday 6 February 2014 DAvID Beckham is exercising his option to become the owner of a Major League Soccer team in Miami.

“This is a dream,” the 38-yearold former England star said at an appearance with MLS Commissioner Don Garber at the Florida city’s gleaming new bayfront art museum. “This is an exciting time for myself and an exciting time for my family and my friends and my partners.”

A final deal to grant the franchise to Beckham’s investment group could still be several months away, sources close to the negotiations said, with a stadium location and financing still requiring approval from the MLS board for his team to become the 22nd club of the top US professional soccer league.

The mayor of Miami Dade, Carlos Gimenez, said negotiations for the stadium started last week. “There’s going to be a few bumps along the way, but we’re going to make the team in Miami not just the best team in America, we’re going to take the team global,” Beckham told a reception for city leaders in Miami.

The former England midfielder, who played for the Los Angeles Galaxy, retired as a player last May and holds a $25 million option in his MLS contract to start a new franchise. Beckham is already in discussions with MiamiDade county to possibly lease land for a 25,000-seat stadium.

Beckham’s group is not looking for public financing but may need to negotiate site plans with the county, such as leasing the port location, to help build a privately-financed stadium.

Beckham has toured Miami twice in recent months with British businessman and former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, as well as Bolivian-born billionaire Marcelo Claure, founder of Miami-based Brightstar Corp, the world’s largest wireless distributor and the provider of global services to Apple.