English star David Beckham created his football club in the United States. Founded in 2018 and operating in Major League Soccer since 2020, Inter Miami CF is the result of a long process led by the former British football star alongside his wealthy collaborators. A look back at the creation of a franchise that has become one of the biggest attractions in MLS in recent years.
Inter Miami CF: Genesis of an ambitious project
This is his American dream for him. David Beckham has begun this new chapter in his prosperous career before his final stint at Paris Saint-Germain. Becks, known to those close to him, did not wait to hang up his boots at the age of 38 to think about a football career since the idea of creating his club had been born in him during his time in MLS. Playing for the Los Angeles Galaxy from 2007 to 2012 (he was loaned out to AC Milan in the meantime), the Spice Boy negotiated an advantageous contract with MLS when he arrived: paying $25 million instead of the $150 million needed to be allowed to create a franchise in the league. A favor granted as a reward for the media exposure he gave to the North American league, then little known in the football world. Supported by his collaborators such as Simon Fuller, the impresario behind the launch of the Spice Girls with his wife Victoria, and by the American-Bolivian entrepreneur and businessman Marcelo Claure, David Beckham was recognized in 2013 by the league commissioner, Don Garber, as the new owner of the Miami club. In the same year, in December 2013, the Spice Boy and his associates received permission from the MLS board to negotiate with the city of Miami to build a stadium.
A bright future despite a difficult start
A few years later, Don Garber declared that Inter Miami would join MLS in 2020. David Beckham’s Inter Miami made it to the top flight of Major League Soccer in the 25th edition of the league, almost six years after its official inception. The Florida-based franchise was a neophyte but determined to make history, but it got off to a rocky start, not least because of the Covid-19 pandemic and disappointing results. The arrival of big names in world football, such as Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain, who has made an excellent start to the season, and the construction of their 18,000-seat Drive Pink Stadium should enable Englishman Phil Neville’s men to get back on track and meet the high standards of the English star. From the pitch, David Beckham now lives for the sport that made him a star: football.
