David Beckham Major League Soccer contract came with a clause that he'd be able to purchase an MLS franchise of his own one day. It's been no secret that he's been scouting Miami as a potential location over the past few month. British tabloid the Daily Mail reports that Beckham is moving forward with those Miami plans and could announce his progress sometime before Christmas.
The Mail, whose reporting was picked up both by Yahoo! Sports and ESPN UK, claims Becks is "almost settled" on South Florida. He's just now currently trying to get co-investors in place. Those said to be potential partners include Bolivia-born billionaire Marcelo Claure, who had joined Beckham on his tour or Miami, American Idol creator Simon Fuller and, potentially, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.
Ross had previously stated he'd like to bring an MLS team to Miami, but it's been unclear whether he has his own plans.
"He is expected to announce progress before Christmas once his co-investors are in place," reports the Mail, which also states FIU Stadium would be the most likely home for the franchise.
Yeah, yeah, this is a whole lot of rehashes of stuff we've heard before with a few new details sprinkled, and, sure, this is a tabloid, but any news that keeps the ball rolling is good news.
Update: According to The Herald, another group looking to bring MLS to Miami has emerged led by Italian financier Alessandro Butini. His plans seems, well, a bit odd. He'd like to build a privately funded stadium in either downtown Miami or Miami Beach for $70 million. And to design it he's turned to UM architecture students who have roughly two months to come up with a design. Right.
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