Beckham talks about being a football team owner

29 gen 2018

Over the past four years, David Beckham had doubts his MLS expansion franchise would ever come to fruition. But despite the struggles to find a stadium site and a search for local investors, Beckham said he never wavered on Miami as the city where he wanted to launch a team.

On Monday, MLS officially awarded an expansion team in Miami to Beckham's ownership group, the culmination of a years-long process that nearly reached a breaking point a few months ago. Now, the team's debut seems in sight.

Monday's announcement did not confirm the team's name or when it will begin playing, but Beckham said the aim is for the team to begin play in 2020 and "hopefully the stadium will be built [by] 2021."

"People are turning around to me already and saying, 'What players are you getting?' We're not at that stage yet," Beckham told reporters. "Yes, we have a wish list, yes we want to create a state-of-the-art academy that brings young talented local kids through the ranks.”

The Miami franchise still has plenty of work left to do before it steps on to a soccer field. Though a stadium site has been identified in the Overtown neighborhood, there are still legal hurdles and months of construction ahead. The team does not yet have a name, a logo or colors. Beckham said the hope is for the fans to be involved in naming the team.