Miami Beckham United co-Owner Jorge Mas said that the nine-acre stadium site in Overtown that the group secured for the venue two years ago just "isn’t large enough to match his ambitions," according to Douglas Hanks of the MIAMI HERALD. Mas has a "bold, high-tech vision for a Miami soccer stadium." Mas: "I want to make it the most technologically advanced, futuristic stadium in the country. Obviously, you need more than nine acres for that." Hanks notes Mas' comments are the "most concrete evidence yet that the longstanding plan to play in Overtown may be changing." Mas and brother José joined the Beckham partnership late last year as his first local investors. In private meetings, Jorge and José Mas have been "entertaining the possibility of the future MLS franchise playing somewhere other than on the current Overtown site." Jorge Mas confirmed that he has "met with developers about other stadium sites." However, he said that the meetings "don’t mean the soccer group is leaving Overtown." Sources who have spoken to the Mas brothers said that they have "discussed a broad range of alternative sites in Miami, including land next to Marlins Park and the old Bertram boat yard off the Miami River." At least one option would "take them outside the city." Sources said that local developer David Martin has met with Jorge Mas about a "24-acre site 10 miles away in Doral." MLS Exec VP/Communications Dan Courtemanche said that the league "granted permission to build a stadium only within Miami’s city limits" (MIAMIHERALD.com, 3/1). NBCSPORTS.com's Daniel Karell wrote Jorge Mas' comments are another "punch in the gut to MLS fans in South Florida." The longer the "delays on a stadium, the longer Beckham’s expansion team will go before actually taking the field" (NBCSPORTS.com, 3/1).
Mas' comments are the most concrete evidence yet that the plan to play in Overtown may be changing
COMING SOON: In Miami, Michelle Kaufman notes Beckham returned to Miami on Thursday afternoon to "begin work" on the new MLS team. He sat down with the Mas brothers to "continue strategizing about the team’s local and global branding; sponsorship; the playing philosophy and style; and the unveiling of the team name, logo, and colors." Beckham "plans to be in town until Saturday." He said that fans can "expect news about the logo, name and colors by early-April." They are working with a N.Y.-based creative arts company on those designs and fans "will be invited to have some input" (MIAMI HERALD, 3/2).
