Published: - Feb 19, 2018

The city will have a new team that will move the Latino fans

The new heartbeat of the city

Miami, tropical diverse city, has been the cradle of Latin American and Caribbean immigration since the early sixties. Now, it is beating again because of the arrival of a new franchise. In this case, the franchise comes from the Major League Soccer, MLS, and there is a new football team called Miami FC.

Seventeen years ago, this city of the South Florida featured an MLS franchise called Miami Fusion, which for various reasons lasted until 2001 season. Its enclosure was in Fort Lauderdale, so the state has already had experience with soccer. In this regard, it is worth asking why this new company will be of great economic, political, and social importance.

Florida has a Hispanic population of about 4.5 million people. The figure makes it the third state of the United States as the largest population of Hispanic origin. In addition, Florida is known for being the community that has grown apace in terms of investment of the acquisition of real estate and trade.

Miami demographics changed drastically due to a migratory exodus by people from South American nations, mostly Venezuelans, Colombians, Argentinians, and Brazilians. Migrants arrived in this state looking for a better quality life and organized themselves into new communities; these communities were mostly middle class and had a stable purchasing power.

Latin influence in Miami will become a key to the success of the new MLS franchise. There, the search for the feel of a football stadium, the beating of the fans shouting chants the city team factor, flags and allegorical banners with players and history of a club messages, is what was needed to unify the Latino fans of the sport with longing for their land.

That feeling can be translated into a return on investment for new owners Miami FC throughout the product marketing in its various forms; for example, entries in stadiums, broadcast rights, income from various concepts including tributary to Miami-Dade County and Florida in general.

Beckham and a four - year wait

After such a long wait of four years, David Beckham's dream of having a franchise in Major League Soccer (MLS) has come true. This dream materialized on 29 January at a crowded ceremony, at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. League commissioner Don Garber announced that the city will have his team, which officially debut season in 2020. This team is the twenty - fifth franchise.

The event was also attended by local authorities as the Mayor of Miami-Dade County, Carlos Gimenez, and the Mayor of the City of Miami, Francis Suarez.

After retiring from Real Madrid and the best league in the world, Beckham arrived in the United States in 2007 to finish his football career in MLS. The player was signed for LA Galaxy to give a new look to this league. Beyond retirement and a juicy five - year contract with an annual salary of $ 7.5 million dollars, one of the clauses in the negotiation was the right for Beckham to acquire a franchise MLS.

After the five - year contract, Beckham called for the activation of the clause to acquire a franchise. In 2014, he was awarded the franchise in Miami at a cost of 25 million dollars, bargain price for the 150 million it is worth it.

It was a long, hard four years, where mobilization to raise sufficient funds including the construction of a stadium with considerable capacity was in the fray. The arrival of new partners was what gave the final push for the definitive approval for new equipment. Within the group of investors and former player partners are: Marcelo Claure, CEO of Sprint; Jorge and Jose Mas, MasTec owners; Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank, and Simon Fuller, entertainment entrepreneur.

Within the investment planned is the construction of the new stadium, which will cost 200 million dollars and will have a capacity for 25,000 people. Land acquisition, which will be based in Miami-Dade County was advanced, in compliance with all permits. Failure to get a proper space for construction, as well as various bureaucratic procedures, delayed the approval by the MLS. However, the dream came true and the city vibrates.

Latin American Post | Gabriel Moros

Translated from “Miami FC: Fortín Sudamericano de la MLS”