Miami Residents Show Support For New MLS Team and Stadium That Could Come With it

MIAMI — Perhaps seeing a dream come true is the most fulfilling aspect life can offer. For soccer legend David Beckham, things are no different. Even with all the championships, money and fame, there is one goal that still sparked a fire in his heart: Bringing a major league soccer team to Miami.

Earlier this fall Beckham did just that, as he and his group of investors revealed the crest for the new MLS soccer team, formally known as Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami.

The pink-on-black logo sports two Herons in the center, followed by Miami dominating the top half in a beautifully written form of calligraphy. It screams the culture of Miami.

This club, along with the paired expansion team awarded in Nashville, will be the 25th and 26th franchise in Major League Soccer. These teams are being implemented in an effort to expand the professional soccer brand throughout the United States.

Miami, being the American city most connected with Latin America, is a no-brainer when it comes to the location for a new MLS team, as soccer is the preferred sport in Latin American culture.

Even though the soccer club has been revealed, Beckham’s investment group known as Miami Freedom Park LLC, is far from relaxing. In fact, the job is just now beginning. And it starts with finding a permanent home within the city.

As many Miami residents may recall, the Nov. 6 ballot asked voters to answer yes or no in a statement pertaining to the city that would grant Beckham’s team a no-bid deal and the ability to negotiate a lease for private use on public land.

The poll resulted in a yes, and a majority of Miami residents appear to be in favor of building a soccer complex on what is currently the Melreese Country Club.

“Our residents, the taxpayers who own Melreese Park, are the people who took the lead on this decision. The land is theirs,” said the Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez.

“Their approval speaks volumes about the desire to have this global sport in Miami,” said Mayor Suarez. “The arrival of a soccer franchise in Miami would further diversify our city’s already vibrant lifestyle and entertainment offerings,” he said.

The investors have a huge vision for what would be known as Miami Freedom Park.

In addition to a state-of-the-art soccer stadium, they plan to build an outdoor plaza filled with retail stores, restaurants and office spaces. They also look to build a hotel on site, and add multiple recreational sports fields for anyone to use.

“Melreese currently charges residents and others to pay around $75 for a round of golf on publicly owned-land. That is not a park,” Mayor Suarez said. “When you compare the way the land is currently being utilized to how it would be as Miami Freedom Park, we are incredibly well positioned to maximize the potential of this land,” Suarez said.

Everything will be privately funded, according to the LLC’s twitter account.

The deal however, is far from over. As it is a common misconception that city voters gave the okay to break ground. What they really granted was the right for the city to negotiate a contract.

“The city now has a sense that Miami voters like the concept of a soccer stadium project,” said Rebecca Wakefield, Chief of Staff, who spoke on behalf of City Commissioner Ken Russell.

“What will happen now is that the City Manager and his team will negotiate a lease agreement spelling out all the terms of the proposed deal,” Wakefield said. “That deal may include new information or even new terms in addition to what was discussed prior to the vote.”

There are many burning questions that surround the terms of the potential land agreement.

The first and perhaps most important, is that before any construction were to start, the 73-acre piece of land needs to be cleansed of all the toxic soil that currently remains under the golf course.

This is of course an expensive project in itself, and one that the city does not want to be on the hook for.

“Commissioner Russell has a lot of questions, particularly about the costs of cleaning up the toxic soil,” Wakefield said. In addition, he also wants to make sure they “build a sufficient amount of public parking space to replace the area they want to build on,” she said.

“He has also strongly advocated for a living wage for all employees during and after construction,” said Wakefield.

Lastly and beyond all else, as an elected official, Commissioner Russell’s top priority is to make sure “this proposal is the right deal for Miami residents,” she said.

Negotiations with this deal will undoubtedly be tough, as even when the Miami Freedom Park team submits a proposal, four out of the five city commissioners need to approve the terms of the lease.

It is certainly an uphill battle. But it is definitely one worth fighting for if the majority of Miami’s opinions echo that of Bobby Adams, an avid recreational soccer player at the parks in south Florida and current USF student.

“I’m so excited for the new team,” Adams said. “There’s definitely going be an in-state rivalry between Miami and Orlando [city soccer club], it’s gonna be insane to watch,” he said.

“I think for this team to succeed the way they should, they really need to have their own stadium and a location that people identify Inter Miami with,” said Adams.

Beckham isn’t the first person to attempt to bring professional soccer into south Florida, as the Miami Fusion was a short-lived franchise from 1998 to 2001. Adam’s attributed the lack of a stadium for the reason of the team’s decimation after only four seasons.

“The Fusion never got their own stadium, and because of that I think it showed the people that they weren’t really important,” Adams said.

“I really believe that if the city of Miami bets on the team with a stadium, they will thrive,” Adams concluded.

It is assumed that the city commissioners will end up casting their vote on the Miami Freedom Park stadium deal sooner rather than later, as the vote is contingent on how quickly they will receive a proposal.

It is still unknown when the completion date of Miami Freedom Park would be, should the vote pass. But regardless of stadium status, Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami kicks off in 2020.