MLS owners are meeting today in Chicago as part of All-Star Week, and they "could vote to approve" David Beckham's Miami expansion deal, giving Beckham and his partners the "green light they need to move forward," according to Michelle Kaufman of the MIAMI HERALD. Owners also could "approve it contingent on the group fulfilling a few more requirements." Beckham last night was "expected at a dinner with league officials," and today his group will "present the latest details" of their privately-funded $300M Overtown project at the BOG meeting. MLS Commissioner Don Garber "stopped short of saying he expected full approval of the deal" today. Garber: "It's a vote, votes can go any which way. We're not there yet. I think we've got work to do." Kaufman notes the Beckham group "aims to have its 25,000-seat stadium completed" by the start of the '20 MLS season, in time to "potentially host World Cup qualifying matches" preceding the '22 and '26 tournaments. Miami Beckham United "recently purchased the final three-acre parcel of land it needed from Miami-Dade County" for $9M (MIAMI HERALD, 8/2).
LONG TIME COMING: In Ft. Lauderdale, Matthew DeFranks notes if MBU receives league approval, it would be the "latest checkpoint in a long journey to bring MLS to Miami." The Overtown location is the group's "fourth choice, after proposals at the Port of Miami, next to the AmericanAirlines Arena and adjacent to Marlins Park all failed." Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke, one of Beckham's co-investors, said that MBU would "fully unveil its ownership group after receiving league approval, even noting some in the group had 'strong roots in Miami.'" MBU would "still have to work with the city of Miami to rezone the property through the next year, construct both the stadium and a training facility and finalize management before its ready to field a team" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 8/2).
