By Andrew Warshaw
February 6 – David Beckham’s dream of running his own club in the United States has become a reality after the global sporting superstar and former England captain announced that he has exercised his option to become the owner of a Major League Football team in Miami.
Promising to make it “the people’s club”, Beckham, who retired last May after winding up his career with Paris St Germain following a successful spell with LA Galaxy whom he joined in 2007, said he had yet to choose a name for his Miami franchise but was looking forward to making the transition from player to owner.
At a Miami press conference alongside MLS Commissioner Don Garber, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid icon said: “I have worked for some of the biggest clubs in the world, and some of the greatest players in the world, and this is a dream.”
“This is an exciting time … for myself, exciting time for my family and friends and partners, and something we are really looking forward to bringing to Miami.”
Garber called the new franchise a “historic day … for football in America,” noting that Beckham, 38, was the first former player anywhere in the world to become the owner of a top league football team in modern times.
Beckham, said Garber, had had “an incredibly powerful impact on our sport and our league in this country.”
Beckham’s charity work as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF as well as a range of commercial activities has only added to his status as one of the most recognised sporting superstars on the planet.
He held a $25 million option in his MLS contract to start a new franchise and this was officially exercised shortly before it expired on December 31, said Garber.
But the team itself is still some way off, with a stadium location and financing still requiring approval from the MLS board before it can become the 22nd club of America’s top professional soccer league.
Beckham’s investment group has reportedly narrowed its stadium search to five possible sites in and around downtown Miami and MLS officials have stressed the importance of having a final stadium deal, along with a business plan.
“We want to create a football team, a football club, that is the people’s club, as simple as that,” said Beckham who has toured Miami twice in recent months and says he feels at home in the heavily Hispanic city.
“The fact that I have played for teams like Real Madrid, AC Milan, PSG (Paris-Saint Germain FC), has given me that different kind of culture. I understand the people here in Miami and this part of America. They are very passionate about their teams,” he told Reuters.
A list of possible players had been drawn up, he said, though he declined to give any names.
Although the team has yet to be set up, intriguingly Beckham’s move reverses the trend of American millionaire entrepreneurs taking over English clubs and he said he intends spending “a lot of time” in Miami even though London is still the family home.
Miami has not had an MLS side since 2001, the previous one having folded after four seasons of having to compete with American football, baseball and basketball.
But Beckham wants to recruit players who will make the new team “loved by millions”.
“We’re planning to bring a team that will be a global team. I want to create a team that we can start from scratch and I am going to work hard for this city to make this team very successful.”
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