By FRANCO PANIZO
Never really one to be short on confidence, David Beckham is convinced his MLS Miami franchise will come to fruition despite all the recent stadium setbacks.
Beckham stated with conviction on Wednesday that the MLS franchise in Miami that he has been working arduously on will see the light of day. Beckham has yet to find a suitable location for a soccer-specific stadium in the downtown Miami area and has received opposition on two sites he considered earlier this year, but that has not deterred him in his quest to bring MLS back to South Florida.
“Miami will happen,” Beckham told Bloomberg Television’s Mark Crumpton. “I said I want to bring a team here and I will take a team to Miami. There are speed bumps along the way and we’ve come up against those.”
Beckham added that he and his group are continuing to look at potential sites for a stadium.
“I’ve been very cheeky in a way because I’ve gone into Miami and I said, ‘Okay, I want to build Old Trafford or Wembley Stadium next to Buckingham Palace,’” Beckham said. “My dream was to have our stadium on a waterfront. It’s not worked out like that and we have alternative sites. It will happen.”
Beckham was recently encouraged by City of Miami commissioner Marc Sarnoff to explore the possibility of building a stadium in an area on Biscayne Bay where the Miami Herald used to operate before moving to a new location last year.
Beckham- who also supported MLS’s decision to not have promotion/relegation, an extremely hot topic in recent weeks, on the broadcast – has said he wants a stadium in downtown Miami that is on or near waterfront property.
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What do you make of Beckham’s confidence to build a stadium in downtown Miami? Like it? Think a deal will be struck by the end of the year?
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