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Miami Beckham United counting on locals to use mass transit, walk to proposed stadium

Photo by Robert Mayer-USA Today Sports
Photo by Robert Mayer-USA Today Sports

David Beckham and his group of investors have talked about having fans march to the proposed soccer-specific stadium for their team in Miami since Day 1, but their new desired location might force more supporters to have to walk than was originally envisioned.

A representative for Miami Beckham United, the name for the group of investors led by the global icon, discussed on Tuesday the topic of commuting to the targeted stadium location in Overtown that was announced in December. The representative, Spencer Crowley, said that Miami Beckham United is counting on locals to take mass transit – the Metrorail station that is three blocks away is one example – and walks to the stadium.

The site at Overtown has 7,000 parking spaces within half a mile, but that amount for a stadium expected to have around 25,000 seats has left some to question whether Miami Beckham United’s plan is a good one.

“It’s natural, those of us who live and grew up in South Florida, to have some degree of skepticism on the parking issue. … I know Floridians like to drive,” said Crowley. “In order to really change, I think we have to give it a chance. This is a really exciting opportunity. It’s a really exciting experiment for this county and for this city.

“Our clients are convinced it will work,” he continued. “They’re convinced they’re going to create a product that will excite people and bring them to the stadium, no matter what they have to do.”

Beckham announced his plans to launch an MLS expansion franchise in Miami nearly two years ago. He ran into resistance at three locations before buying some land in Overtown last month with his investors.

MLS has said that it will not officially award Beckham a club until a stadium deal is in place.

What do you think of this development? Do you see Miami fans embracing walks to the stadium? See Beckham and his group striking a deal in the near future?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Why is there no discussion about building a parking ramp next to the proposed stadium? It sounds like they need to buy some property in the area so they can build a parking structure. Is that not possible?

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  2. The part of Overtown that will be home to the stadium is NOT the hardcore Overtown, fyi.

    But let’s just say that there’ll be a ton of parking for 25,000 patrons. The reality is that all the freeways and tollways are going to be jam packed, and the added traffic will actually do quite a bit to put ppl into public transportation just to save time. It’s at the southern end of I95. For those coming from the south, it’s US1, a street w/ major traffic.

    I plan on biking up US1 and passing all those cars while riding on a world class bike path. 🙂

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    • It’s not a far fetched idea. I have walked several blocks in Orlando through “not so nice” neighborhood with crowds of people next to me. The sold out Citrus Bowl pretty much invalidates your attendance claims.

      If they get supporters involved with planning, it could happen. But, they would be smart to hire busses as well and have a few valet locations or park and ride.

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  3. Take public transportation and walk??? This is America no one will do that. We need to be able to drive our SUV’s up almost to the door

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  4. Miami is Dead in the Water…Literally. I know Beckham is from England where everyone is taking mass transit to games. This is FLORIDA. between the heat and the bad neighborhood, I don’t see this happening. Like one person already mentioned, if there’s a strong 3rd party parking situation then this might work. But trusting those fans to attend a game by using mass transit is financial suicide.

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  5. If they’re not going to invest in parking then they better invest in a LOT of security because walking through Overtown at any time of day can be a dangerous venture.

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  6. Mass transit is horrible in Miami – better lower your attendance expectations if you are planning for fans to arrive via public transit.

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  7. I think they’re as likely to take transit, & walk to games as they are to actually attend sporting events for their home teams. That being said, I wish that us Fire fans had a stadium proposal of this nature.

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  8. There’s a big opportunity for 3rd party parking business if this happens. I’m not sure how mass transit is in Miami, but the problem is how close people live to metro stops, not how close a stop is to the stadium IMO. If people can’t easily get to a metro station they’d probably rather just drive.

    Reply

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