Beckham (l) and Mas have spent over $900,000 to campaign for support for their stadium proposalGETTY IMAGES
David Beckham "scored the biggest victory yet" in his quest to field an MLS team in Miami after about 60% of voters "endorsed plans to transform a city-owned golf course into Miami Freedom Park, a massive stadium and commercial complex," according to Flechas & McPherson of the MIAMI HERALD. Now Inter Miami FC's ownership group has "permission to negotiate a lease of city land" next to Miami Int'l Airport for a 73-acre "redevelopment that would include a 25,000-seat stadium, at least 750 hotel rooms and at least 1 million square feet of office, retail and commercial space." However, the deal will "require four out of five votes from city commissioners, and those votes were far from assured." The pro-stadium campaign "benefited from strong support from soccer fans who have longed for an MLS team throughout Beckham’s five-year odyssey to field a side in South Florida." The ownership group "spent nearly $900,000 on the campaign." Beckham acknowledged that there were residents who "remain unconvinced, and there is still work to be done to reach a final agreement" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/7). In the run-up to election day, Inter Miami Managing Owner Jorge Mas said that there is "no Plan B -- and the group wouldn't reconsider abandoning the Overtown site if the measure lost." SOCCER AMERICA's Paul Kennedy notes Beckham spent yesterday "greeting voters at locations around Miami." Inter Miami is slated to begin play in MLS in '20 at a temporary home (SOCCERAMERICA.com, 11/7).
