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Miami-Dade County commissioners to vote on soccer-specific stadium legislation next week

David Beckham of Paris St Germain adjusts his tie in the Directors' Box

By FRANCO PANIZO

MLS’s return to Miami could take one more step towards becoming reality next week.

According to the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade County commissioners are expected to meet and vote next Tuesday on legislation that would ask mayor Carlos Gimenez’s administration to identify potential sites for a soccer-specific stadium and negotiate construction contracts with interested private developers. If approved, it could open the door for global icon David Beckham and his investors to bring an MLS team back to South Florida.

Beckham has been in Miami in recent months to tour sites that could potential serve as a permanent home for an MLS franchise. Beckham, who played in MLS from 2007 to 2012, has an option to purchase an expansion club at a discounted rate of $25 million and has zeroed in on Miami as the destination.

Recently, Beckham and his ownership group were said to be considering building a stadium on county-owned land at PortMiami and they have already reportedly approached the county about the possibility of constructing a stadium there. No county funds are expected to be used toward the stadium.

In related news, Beckham – who has said he would like to present a new franchise plan to MLS’s board of directors by the end of the year – and his investment group, Beckham Brand Limited, created a new Florida corporate entity this week named Miami Beckham United.

MLS announced that it would return to Florida, where it has not been since 2001, last month with the expansion announcement of Orlando City SC.

Miami and Atlanta are considered the next two expansion favorites as the league attempts to grow its national footprint in the southeast part of the United States.

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What do you think about this development? Like Beckham’s aggressive push for a SSS stadium in Miami? Still think MLS returning to Miami is a bad idea?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I thought I read that Beckham’s discount option expires at the end of this year. So they only have a few weeks to get the city/county to approve a stadium site? Crazy.

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  2. Miami should come in, in 2015 with Orlando and play at a temporary field. Beckham and his people have been looking at temporary fields I believe, like marlins stadium and a university field. I think they come in 2015 as well, to have 22 teams by 2015 and have equal teams in each conference.
    The question is now, why let Atlanta play in a NFL stadium when the league is asking for soccer stadiums. Will Atlanta make their own sss once the braves leave and will a west market be the 24 team.
    You got in 2015 Miami and Orlando
    You also have Atlanta in 2017 which will make it 23 teams but who will get the 24th spot.
    Now, what if Minneapolis get a new NFL stadium by 2017, what is cosmos get their stadium as well by 2017. Its going to be a fun number 24

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  3. The Miami Franchise make sense. But I am doubtful of the Atlanta franchise. Most of the recent successful franchises have come from owners who really care about soccer and have invested in it with a career or a minor league franchise. It seems Atlanta has neither, but has an NFL owner with deep enough pockets and a large capacity stadium that he wants an income stream from more people in on the off season, and NO, I don’t count covering up HALF the football stadium for MLS games an good interest in the game. The NFL comes first for that organization and I’m tired of looking at gridirons when teams are playing soccer. And should the MLS make a bone-headed move to a winter season to match Europe, the Atlanta Franchise,as well as the Sounders and Revolution would be truly lost, having to kowtow to the NFL Lords. It doesn’t matter that the MLS would like a MLS team in the deep south, where it has none, there could be better options elsewhere.

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    • My first reaction to reading the article was that the team may be named Miami United based on Beckham forming an entity called Miami Beckham United. We shall see…hopefully he involves the fans down here to help select the name.

      Can’t wait for MLS to arrive in Miami and I think the PortMiami stadium site would be incredible.

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    • Especially since, “No County Funds” often involves tax breaks for the developer and the addition of things like traffic lights, off ramps and other improvements that are not directly related to the project itself but serve to benefit the project using taxpayer money only more inconspicuously.

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      • No, the infrastructure improvements, unless they are a few miles from a potential development site and cannot be directly attributed to the new construction, are usually are tied up in a nice and tidy development agreement.This is done to protect both parties and can be, because of taxation issues needed and wanted by both parties. Trying to slip in by the backdoor, major improvements to the benefit of one party are long gone under the watchful eyes of taxation zealots, citizen, homeowner and environment groups. (This coming from a city planner with 20 years experience)

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