November 4 – Former England captain David Beckham is reported to have lined up fellow internationals Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard to play for him once his new Major League Soccer franchise has been completed.
As part of his contract with MLS six years ago, Beckham was given the option to buy a franchise for a discounted $25m upon his retirement. The global footballing icon is understood to have chosen Miami as his preferred location and the Premier League pair are apparently top of his list.
Ferdinand, who has retired from international football, is out of contract at United at the end of this season as is Lampard who, according to reports, was on the verge of joining Beckham’s former club LA Galaxy before Jose Mourinho moved back at Chelsea for a second spell as manager.
There are currently 19 MLS teams, and league commissioner Don Garber hopes to expand that to 24 teams by the 2020 season. A 20th side is already in place to begin playing in 2015 after Manchester City and its partner, the New York Yankees, paid $100m to launch New York City FC.
The MLS still has to give Beckham the official go-ahead to make Miami the location of his franchise. He is reportedly seeking several hundred million dollars to fund the project, including the playing squad and building a stadium.
This would be the second MLS franchise in Florida after the Miami Fusion held matches in Fort Lauderdale from 1998 to 2001, before folding because of poor attendances.
Florida is viewed as an untapped market with high Latin American and English ex-pat populations, on top of a number of currently successful college teams making the local market competitive nationally.
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