David Beckham’s Miami team at the finish line, says MLS boss
Meeting on Wednesday in Chicago latest in ongoing saga over expansion side, although vote could go either way
David Beckham is “at the finish line” in his quest to obtain approval for a Major League Soccer expansion club in Miami, according to commissioner Don Garber.
Beckham’s expansion bid is on the agenda at an Major League Soccer (MLS) owners meeting on Wednesday in Chicago.
They could vote to approve the deal and end a saga of more than three and a half years during which Beckham has struggled to find a stadium site and secure the land for a venue to house the team his signing with the league in 2007 allowed him to own at a discounted rate of US$25 million.
“We are at the finish line after nine years of work to be sure, if we go to Miami, we get it right,” Garber told the Miami Herald.
“David had an option, but that option couldn’t be exercised without having him satisfy all the things that all team owners need to satisfy – the right capital structure with his partners, the right stadium plan, the right marketing and business plans – and we’re at that point where I think we are getting ready to make the decisions internally to go forward.”
Garber did not say he expected full approval of the deal on Wednesday, when Beckham’s group will present the latest details of their privately funded US$300 million Overtown stadium project to MLS owners.