By Ben Nicholson
October 30 – Miami’s public education authority wants a piece of the Beckham action, having pitched Beckham’s group on the idea of developing a high school on the 10.5-acre city-owned site in Little Havana.
The current deal afloat is that Beckham’s MLS franchise will have rights to use the land, exempted from county property tax, in exchange for $51 million to be paid to the city over the course of 60 years ($850,000 per year.)
In addition, Miami’s public school system will have access to the stadium for graduation ceremonies and other events.
However, a ceremony here and there appears to be a modest version of the desires of the education community. In the words of schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho: “I can say the concept of a ‘Beckham High’ resonates quite strongly with me.”
Beckham has admitted his group has made mistakes in its pursuit of a stadium site, finding political life more difficult to beat than a 6-man wall when just yards from the goal.
Getting the education authority on board could prove shrewd, for becoming friendly with an organized group possessing political clout could help generate the public support that has been somewhat lukewarm thus far, somewhat like the reception he received when he moved to the US in the first place.
And surely there is no better way to drum up support than to dangle the carrot of a school, appealing to the hearts of young Floridians wishing to be educated by Beckham (or something like that).
Beckham’s spokesperson Tadd Schwartz said: “The idea of a partnership between Miami Beckham United (curiously specific given Beckham’s recent statements that team’s name has yet been decided), the city, county and school system benefiting children across Miami-Dade is exciting, but we have a great deal of details to iron out before an agreement is finalised.”
Beckham recently announced his intention to run the club like Manchester United, though stating: “I definitely won’t get involved in team decisions… the way players are playing and things like that.”
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