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MLS Miami stadium talks face further delays

Photo by Robert Mayer/USA Today Sports
Photo by Robert Mayer/USA Today Sports

The MLS Miami stadium saga has taken yet another twist.

According to the Miami Herald, talks between David Beckham’s group and the local government have reached a sight impasse. The difficulties stem from Beckham’s group’s lack of approval of some of the terms requested by Miami-Dade in exchange for the county-owned parcel of land that is targeted as the club’s stadium site.

The report says that Beckham’s group has yet to approve aspects such as hiring goals, employee benefits and perks for local businesses as part of the proposed deal. The local government is reportedly requesting job training for local residents, free public transit passes for employees and an agreement that Beckham’s group won’t discriminate potential employers based on prior incarceration. In addition, a request has been made that Beckham’s group awards 65 percent of the stadium’s construction jobs to local residents.

According to the Miami Herald, Beckham’s group is awaiting approval from several partners before entering the deal.

“We expect to reach an agreement with the County soon,” Beckham’s group said in a statement, “at which point our team will enter the public [land-use and zoning] process en route to developing our privately-financed MLS stadium in Overtown.”

The latest delay is just the latest in a long line of issues faced by Beckham’s group in the pursuit of placing an MLS club in Miami. However, MLS commissioner Don Garber has repeatedly reiterated his belief that the group will succeed.

What do you think of the latest Beckham news? What do you expect in the coming weeks and months?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I think it’s time for Beckham and his group to walk away from Miami. What about taking the the Tampa? Orlando is drawing huge crowds averaging about 36,000 but is moving to a new stadium with 19,000 seat capacity. http://mlsattendance.blogspot.com/ Tampa is only about an hour away from Orlando. There has to be away Beckham’s group could market themselves in Tampa and attract those fans that Orlando won’t be able to fit into their new stadium.

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  2. Beckham has shelled out A TON of money already. But you guys must not realize that and that makes sense as to why you are tired of hearing about this. Pretty interesting updates though since the city of Miami is literally holding his money hostage

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  3. Remember when we were looking at renderings of a field on the marina? haha.. The local Miami people we laughing say it’ll never happen. How is that Garber is as gullible/dreamer as we were.

    Other markets (cough-Sacramento) are legit and would enhance the league spirit yesterday. Miami can have a placeholder.. but come on already.

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  4. I have no problem with Beckham’s ownership aspirations but this story is nauseating. We lament the existence of the (near) daily updates of the Cosmos, but at least they have a club.

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  5. Gawds.

    David Beckham is now discovering exactly why no one else wants to do business in the Miami area. It’s as bent as a third-world nation, with New York prices, and the incessant bait-and-switch, bad faith, and shakedowns from corrupt public officials are just mind-boggling.

    I’m pretty good friends with a medium-big developer who’s built some fairly substantial mixed-used buildings all over the Southeast, some of them eight figures plus, easily, and once mentioned to me he won’t go near Miami for pretty much exactly the same reason…every project he’s ever tried down there apparently came to tears as a result of too many hands out and some truly epic civic corruption.

    The “incarceration” part would scare me if I was Beckham. I suspect somebody is trying to mob up his workforce…at which point, he is really and truly hosed. If they get in, they’ll squeeze him in every phase – material, transport, labor, work stoppages, union dues, permitting, you name it, and the price of building whatever he’s trying to build is going to double or triple before it’s said and done. That’s an OLD game, there, and it’s probably why they’re balking. I’d balk at that, myself.

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    • Yeah, it’s way too complicated down in post “We got robbed by the marlins” era.

      But Bro–you’re confusing me. You’re cheering for a team that went belly up in what, 1984 or something???

      I’ll take Beckhams’s current Miami dream over nostalgia from league that went supernova. But that’s just me, Playah.

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