English soccer legend David Beckham is attempting to make his return to Major League Soccer, this time as an owner. The 38 year-old midfielder played for the Los Angeles Galaxy from 2007 to 2012, scoring 18 goals in 98 appearances here in the States. Although Becks was certainly way past his prime by the time he came to America, his globally recognizable name and iconic appearance gave instant credibility to a league that clearly lacked the quality of play displayed in Europe’s top flight leagues.
Part of Beckham’s contract when he first came to play in L.A. was a clause that gave him the option of purchasing an MLS franchise for only 25 million dollars – chump change for a guy like Beckham. Becks now plans on taking advantage of such an opportunity by bringing a team back to Miami. I say <strong><em>back</em></strong> to Miami because the city used to be home to the Miami Fusion, a team which participated in the MLS for only 4 seasons before folding in 2001. In the club’s final season, it finished 1st in the Eastern Conference before eventually falling to San Jose in the Semifinals.
Beckham’s vision to bring soccer back to Miami is contingent upon working out a new deal to build a stadium somewhere within the city limits. The Miami Marlins very recently built their own stadium in Little Havana – using mostly public funds – which prompted considerable backlash against local politicians for spending exorbitant amounts of tax dollars on a baseball stadium. This will undoubtedly make things more difficult for Beckham, who will probably also seek public assistance in building a home for this new team.
Besides the stadium issue, Beckham will also have to make sure he puts a quality product on the field. As mentioned above, the Miami Fusion had a great regular season and made it all the way to the MLS semifinals in 2001 and yet they still were not able to keep the team afloat. Miami is notorious for its fair weather fans, who are known for coming late to games and leaving early; it’ll take more than Beckham’s name and experience to make this expansion team a success. That being said, the ginormous Latin population in Miami is a natural market for a soccer club, and the MLS has come a long way in the last fifteen years. If run properly, expect Beckham’s expansion team to become one of Major League Soccer’s most prominent franchises in fairly short order.