David Beckham’s dreams of building a Major League Soccer stadium in Miami reached a breakthrough yesterday as he sealed the final phase of a $28 million (£22 million) land purchase.
After almost four years of negotiations, during which he was denied both his vision for a glitzy waterfront development and his second choice of venue, Beckham and his investor group won approval from Miami-Dade county commission for their third choice.
Despite an outcry from some residents, supporters said that the new club, Miami Beckham United, had the potential to become a “huge opportunity” for the city, both in sporting and financial terms. The club has outlined plans to work with local organisations and youth groups to revitalise the area.
Beckham announced his plans to bring Major League Soccer to the city in 2013 and had aimed to have the land purchased, stadium built and team playing by this year. Political battles, funding issues and a public backlash stalled progress on several occasions, taking the project into extra time and at one point leaving it close to collapse.
Yesterday’s debate focused on whether to grant permission for the group to buy the final piece of the jigsaw, a three-acre plot of land that will complete the nine-acre site needed for the envisaged 25,000-seat stadium.
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“Mr Beckham believes that there’s great potential to develop great young soccer players in our community,” Neisen Kasdin, a lobbyist and lawyer for Miami Beckham United and former mayor of Miami Beach, said.
Some said that the economic benefits would be marginal and could cause disruption to the area. “The residents of Overtown and Spring Gardens aren’t eating Beckham’s baloney,” Carson Moore, one of several people who spoke out against the deal at the commission meeting, said. “Beckham’s saying it’s going to bring in economic development — it’s not.” One resident voiced fears that noise and intrusion by “25,000 drunken soccer fans” would destroy the community.
Joe Martinez, a Miami county commissioner, said: “While this may not be a bad deal for the county, I don’t believe it’s a good deal for the residents.”
Beckham and his business partners — who include Simon Fuller, the British entertainment entrepreneur, and Marcelo Claure, the Bolivian telecommunications tycoon — have yet to be granted planning permission, a task that will fall to Miami city council. Major League Soccer has not yet granted a franchise, stipulating that planning hurdles must be cleared first.