Beckham pays $25M to get soccer in Miami

[spuwho]

Per ESPN

http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1599437/reports-david-beckham-set-mls-team-miami?cc=5901



David Beckham appears to have chosen Miami as the destination for his Major League Soccer franchise, according to widespread reports.

Former Los Angeles Galaxy star Beckham has been weighing his options as he looks to launch a new MLS team since his retirement from the game this past summer and it seems as though Florida is his preferred location -- if he is successful in acquiring a franchise.

The Sunshine State is seen as an untapped market in the United States with no top-flight team having operated out of the southern state since 2001, when the Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny last operated.

The reports suggest Beckham will "will pay a discounted rate of [$25 million] to start an MLS expansion team in Miami," yet a final agreement on the deal had yet to be ratified.

Beckham business partner Simon Fuller, the brainchild behind the hugely successful "American Idol" TV show, is believed to be heavily involved in the bid, but it seems as though the high-profile duo face competition to land the franchise.

Further reports suggest 12 major investors have expressed an interest in starting a new MLS side, yet Beckham is said to have an advantage over his rivals after he secured the right to purchase a cut-price franchise as part of his final Galaxy contract.

It has been suggested that Beckham might eventually look to sell the franchise for an inflated fee as a potential $25 million deal with MLS organizers would represent a huge reduction on the price that is normally demanded by U.S. soccer chiefs to establish a new franchise.

The Abu-Dhabi owners of Premier League side Manchester City paid about four times that amount to get involved in the New York City FC team, which is set to launch next year.

[I-10east]

I'm not a big soccer guy,but from what I hear, Beckham is way past his prime. That dude gets mega-bucks no matter what, LOL. I guess that it's all about that star power, and name recognition.

[ben says]

I'm not a big soccer guy,but from what I hear, Beckham is way past his prime. That dude gets mega-bucks no matter what, LOL. I guess that it's all about that star power, and name recognition.

....most owners are considerably older than the players. Not sure what you mean by past-his-prime?

[I-10east]

^^^So is he still the same David Beckham (production-wise) from when he was in the Premier League?

[bencrix]

He's retired as a football (soccer) player. By the way, you are right about one thing, he's always been primarily about the star power / name recognition, rather than his footballing skills. While he may have excelled in certain aspects of the game (e.g. set pieces), most regard him as never fully fulfilling his potential as a footballer. It will be interesting to see how he fares if he gets into ownership in our MLS league. I certainly hope his "brand" can bring it along even more. I would guess the ceiling for the MLS would be to compete w/ the Dutch / French level of leagues in terms of talent. There is still a long way to go. 

[I-10east]

^^^Thanks of the info.

[Ajax]

^^^So is he still the same David Beckham (production-wise) from when he was in the Premier League?

No - he retired from playing after last season with PSG.  When he came to MLS (while he was still a decent player), he made a ton of money and part of his contract gave him the option of owning his own MLS franchise in the future at a discounted rate.  The rate was reportedly capped at $25M, and also (reportedly) excluded the markets of NYC and LA. 

Now that MLS franchise fees have risen significantly over the past few years (Montreal paid $40M, NYC paid $100M, and Orlando City is reportedly going to pay $70M), people can argue about how savvy the deal was, but there's no question that MLS got a lot more mileage out of its association with Beckham than they could have with just about any other player.  Thierry Henry is still playing in New York and was considered a better player than Beckham, even in the primes of their careers, but Beckham is a much bigger global brand. 

There was another article about this yesterday from the AP, and they said that Beckham had also looked at San Diego, Orlando and Montreal.  I found that really interesting.  Orlando obviously has their ownership group, San Diego is sort of an untapped market but they have Tijuana Xolos about 20 minutes away, and Montreal already has a team.  If any other market was going to get a 2nd team you would think it would be Toronto or Chicago. 

Miami makes sense because it fits with Beckham's "brand" - the only other non-MLS city that I could think of that might fit would be Atlanta, but it looks like the Falcons owner Arthur Blank is the front-runner to put a team there.  There are a lot of obstacles in Miami, too (fickle fans, no stadium and probably no local government funding for a stadium after the Marlins fiasco). 

I'll be happy to have a few MLS teams that are within a 5 1/2 hour drive, although my first priority will be our local NASL team when they start up in 2015. 

[Ajax]

He's retired as a football (soccer) player. By the way, you are right about one thing, he's always been primarily about the star power / name recognition, rather than his footballing skills. While he may have excelled in certain aspects of the game (e.g. set pieces), most regard him as never fully fulfilling his potential as a footballer. It will be interesting to see how he fares if he gets into ownership in our MLS league. I certainly hope his "brand" can bring it along even more. I would guess the ceiling for the MLS would be to compete w/ the Dutch / French level of leagues in terms of talent. There is still a long way to go.

Good point about the Dutch/French leagues.  Right now I've heard MLS compared to some of the Scandinavian leagues.  I think the Portuguese league has jumped above the Dutch league (at least if the UEFA coefficient stuff is to be believed).  France is a bit behind the big 4 (England, Germany, Italy and Spain) but with PSG and Monaco, their top teams can just about compete with anyone. 

[I-10east]

^^^Thanks for the info Ajax.

[bencrix]

Beckham's investment seems speculative / risky. As you point out the Miami market seems perfect on paper, but its relationship w/ pro sports is troubled. But I am glad to see big $$$ being plowed into our domestic league. MLS needs to move beyond being the "final paycheck" for fading European stars. I think a guy like Dempsey moving to the MLS at the prime of his career is a good sign. Perhaps the key to its future will be its ability to develop talent. There are some signs it is happening. I would find that much more interesting to watch than the old studs in pasture.

[CityLife]

He's retired as a football (soccer) player. By the way, you are right about one thing, he's always been primarily about the star power / name recognition, rather than his footballing skills. While he may have excelled in certain aspects of the game (e.g. set pieces), most regard him as never fully fulfilling his potential as a footballer. It will be interesting to see how he fares if he gets into ownership in our MLS league. I certainly hope his "brand" can bring it along even more. I would guess the ceiling for the MLS would be to compete w/ the Dutch / French level of leagues in terms of talent. There is still a long way to go.

Good point about the Dutch/French leagues.  Right now I've heard MLS compared to some of the Scandinavian leagues.  I think the Portuguese league has jumped above the Dutch league (at least if the UEFA coefficient stuff is to be believed).  France is a bit behind the big 4 (England, Germany, Italy and Spain) but with PSG and Monaco, their top teams can just about compete with anyone.

I've also heard a lot of European players say that MLS is currently equal to the English Championship or Bundesliga 2, which are actually both decent quality leagues, especially at the top. Both leagues averaged around 17,500 in attendence last year, which is just under MLS's average of 18,500.

MLS can definitely reach the level of the Dutch league (which isn't that great compared to the bigger leagues) someday...except as the polar opposite. The Dutch league is a feeder of young talent to the bigger leagues, while the MLS is a retirement haven for players from the bigger leagues. Each league will never have star players at their peak, but can still put out a decent product.

[CityLife]

Beckham's investment seems speculative / risky. As you point out the Miami market seems perfect on paper, but its relationship w/ pro sports is troubled. But I am glad to see big $$$ being plowed into our domestic league. MLS needs to move beyond being the "final paycheck" for fading European stars. I think a guy like Dempsey moving to the MLS at the prime of his career is a good sign. Perhaps the key to its future will be its ability to develop talent. There are some signs it is happening. I would find that much more interesting to watch than the old studs in pasture.

Beckham is getting a team at well below the going rate...so even if MLS turns out as a bust in Miami, he could always sell the team to another owner/another city and flip a pretty nice profit. 

[mtraininjax]

I am not a soccer fan, but I work with investors from Miami who said they heard Jax was in the running for a team. They were ecstatic about it!

[tufsu1]

I am not a soccer fan, but I work with investors from Miami who said they heard Jax was in the running for a team. They were ecstatic about it!

we are getting an NASL team...which some day could move up to MLS...similar to what orlando City Lions is doing now

[ProjectMaximus]

Miami, Orlando and Atlanta seem to have a beat on everyone in terms of ownership and stadium plans in place. I'd say these are the frontrunners for expansion franchises in the eyes of most observers. Then there's Minneapolis and San Antonio in the mix, both with lower-level franchises and stadiums ready to move up, so we'll see how that shakes out. St Louis is also a strong city that surprisingly hasn't been rewarded after many years of efforts. Raleigh and Detroit have a shot as well.

Right now Jax is much farther behind any of the above cities, but the landscape can change drastically based on how the NASL team does and also what momentum Khan could potentially create if he wants to.