Beckham Plans to Bring Miami its First Pro Soccer Club

By: Ismael Rodriguez

Miami Beckham United needs 3 acres owned by Miami-Dade County in order to bring Miami its first Major League Soccer club.

Beckham bought 6 privately owned acres for $19 million in January as part of his plan to build a $150 million, 25,000-seat stadium in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood.

MLS President and Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott held a conference last week, where he spoke about the league’s plan for expansion, bringing two new teams this season to Atlanta and Minnesota. He also expected a team in Los Angeles by 2018 and one in Miami by 2019.

His statements echoed those of commissioner Don Garber’s to the press in December.

“I remain a big believer in the importance of Miami to extending MLS’s reach to south of the border and to connect with a very diverse and culturally important city in our country,” Garber told the press.

For Miami to get the team, Beckham’s group will need to find investors willing to back the project, acquiring the remaining 3 acres.

Without the acres and financial backing for the project, the Overtown site could mark the fourth time in three years that Beckham’s group failed to bring Miami a team.