Doug McIntyre’s MLS column, 26 Thoughts, parses through the latest insights and inside info from around American soccer.

NEW YORK — It’s hard to know exactly where to begin our first regular MLS column — which once again has a brand-new numerical prefix this year thanks to the arrival of expansion teams in Miami and Nashville — of the league’s 25th-anniversary season, which kicks off this weekend in cities across the United States and Canada.

MLS hosted a gala event Wednesday at a swanky Manhattan hotel to celebrate its milestone campaign, with owners, league and team executives, 200-plus media members and others in attendance. Over the course of six hours, just about every topic was broached and bandied about. We’re going to get to every one of them (and more) below. But the biggest story of the day was undoubtedly the two newcomers, so that’s as good a place as any to start.

The face of Inter Miami’s effort isn’t Mexican national team playmaker Rodolfo Pizarro but rather David Beckham, the former LA Galaxy (and Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and PSG) star/global fashion icon who is finally making good on the opportunity to own a team that was included in the agreement to bring him here back in 2007.

Pizarro, 26, is a legitimate baller and one of 10 players lured from Liga MX by MLS clubs this winter. But he’s not necessarily the household name many were expecting when Beckham’s plan to bring the league back to South Florida was announced seven years ago, not after none other than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were mentioned as possible recruits. (Beckham was asked about both players during a Tonight Show appearance later Wednesday.)

View photos Global icon David Beckham (right) is the co-owner and president of soccer operations for Inter Miami, which kicks off its maiden MLS season Sunday. (Michael Reaves/Getty) More

Still, Inter Miami — which is co-owned by the deeply connected Miami-based Mas family along with billionaires Marcelo Claure and Masayoshi Son — has surrounded Pizarro and fellow designated player Matias Pellegrini, a 19-year-old Argentine hoping to use his stint in North America as a springboard to a top European circuit, with proven MLS veterans such as Luis Robles, Roman Torres, Wil Trapp and Lee Nguyen.

“It’s one thing I learned from Sir Alex Ferguson,” Beckham said of the legendary former Man United manager. “It’s not sometimes all about bringing the biggest names and the biggest players to a club. They have to be the right players that fit into our culture and into our team.”

26 Thoughts

1. Jorge Mas accompanied Beckham to the event and addressed several matters relating to the first-year operation. One of those was Italian club Inter Milan’s attempts to prevent Miami (officially known as Club Internacional de Futbol Miami) from using the “Inter” shorthand.

“It’s a non-issue,” Mas insisted. “We’re not concerned with the trademark issue whatsoever.”

2. This is the league’s second foray into Miami. The Miami Fusion debuted as an expansion team two years after the inaugural 1996 season but were folded (along with the Tampa Bay Mutiny) just months after lifting the Supporters’ Shield in 2001. “The fan base didn’t support the club,” said MLS commissioner Don Garber, who added that even the sort of deep-pocketed investors Inter Miami boasts now wouldn’t have been able to save the Fusion.

“The league was in a different spot and had so many challenges,” Garber said. “To go into a market that would be considered by most a difficult sports market, we didn’t have the strength and capacity and have the momentum and energy to overcome big obstacles. And Miami at the time was a big obstacle.”

3. Inter Miami will play its first home game March 14 against the Galaxy. Asked by Yahoo if he would have any split loyalties, Beckham, who won two MLS Cups in six seasons in Los Angeles, was unequivocal. “Absolutely none,” he said. “I love the Galaxy and I’ll always be a fan, they’ll always have a big place in my heart. But the moment they step foot in our stadium, there’s only one team I’m gonna want to win.”

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