David Beckham is back on the prowl for a potential Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami, and apparently on the hunt for the right place for his team to play.
The Miami Herald reported on Wednesday that the former LA Galaxy star was in town on Tuesday and had dinner with potential business partner and billionaire Marcelo Claure and Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez to discuss the potential of bringing MLS to South Beach.
Beckham and Claure – the Bolivian businessman behind Brightstar Corp., a global wireless distributor – were expected to tour stadium sites for the franchise on Wednesday, according to the Herald.
Claure confirmed via his Instagram account Wednesday that he had met with Beckham and his longtime business partner Simon Fuller, calling it an “unforgettable night” in his Miami home.
Beckham has been linked to a potential Miami franchise since the days immediately following his departure from MLS last December, but they became more of a reality last summer. That’s when he visited the city and toured both Sun Life Stadium and FIU Stadium as potential home sites, all with the idea of exercising a reportedly discounted buy-in fee for an expansion franchise given to him when he first signed with the league in 2007.
Beckham reportedly met this summer with school officials at FIU – where Claure sits on the board of trustees – about the stadium, which holds a capacity crowd of 23,500.
The Herald also reported that Beckham’s associates have explored the option of using Marlins Park as a temporary home until a new soccer-specific stadium is built.
Beckham also attended the Miami Heat game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night, where he met with Brazilian superstar Neymar, in town with the Brazilian national team for their international against Honduras on Saturday at Sun Life Stadium.
