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Beckham has unveiled their plans for their new stadium, which will seat 25, 000 on will sit on the Miami shore line more or less adjacent to the Miami Heat’s arena.
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David Beckham/Getty
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David Beckham held a carefully staged press conference in Miami yesterday to lobby for his new Major League soccer expansion franchise in Florida.
Soccer may be the excuse but real estate also looms heavily in the background as he laid out his, and his partners’, plans.
If they can Backham would certainly like to reshape Port Miami, which is one of the world’s busiest cruise ship ports, presenting a sexy looking set of stadium renderings of the proposed new soccer stadium. Bend it like Beckham certainly comes to mind when you first glance at the sensuous curves of the design for the grandstands of the new stadium.
Of course curves cost money, leading one local stadium-finance attorney to comment on the design to the Miami Herald saying, “That’s a beautiful building that has the potential to be an iconic building in the marketplace. It’s going to have the price tag of an iconic building.” And just what the heck is a stadium-finance attorney anyway one might certainly ask?
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Such an elaborate proposed stadium design inevitably leads eventually back to real estate to help pay for it, as substantial associated land developments are being proposed for the neighbourhood to go with the stadium. After all, that is the American way, and why not.
Well traffic for one thing as a new stadium and additional surrounding development will certainly add to it, to the chagrin of existing inhabitants, including Royal Caribbean cruise lines themselves who don’t seem too happy about the idea yet. As a huge contributor to the Miami economy, one can guess they will have a larger voice than most once it all gets more serious down the line.
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As the world’s second-largest cruise operator, Royal Caribbean has a corporate campus that overlaps with Beckham’s proposed 25, 000-seat stadium site, and top executives there are apparently warning elected officials that Beckham’s plan would hurt port operations.
On the other hand David Beckham knows how to project his charisma and to be completely charming, something amazing really for a football player.
“I want to change their minds, ’’ Beckham said at the well-attended afternoon press conference … “I don’t want to be an enemy to the people that are opposed to the stadium. I want to work with them.”
If he doesn’t get the site he wants near the port, three other Miami sites have been listed as fall-back positions. However Beckham’s planning consultant only presented renderings for the port stadium, and clearly that is where all the energy is going right now.
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Funding is another issue as well. Beckham hopes to get state aid, but promised not to seek any municipal help and to pay market rent for the stadium site.
If Miami does lease Beckham part of the port’s southwest corner, his development team could play a significant role in creating a new commercial district for downtown Miami. They offered new details on a one-million square-foot commercial complex woven into their stadium site plan, a potentially lucrative new development opportunity that would have Beckham’s organization as the master developer – there that’s the real estate part now up front and on the table.
The stadium renderings are very beautiful and depict an open-air soccer stadium set against an evening Miami skyline as background. Beckham’s backers describe the retired star as uniquely positioned to thrive as a Major League Soccer owner in Miami. His fame really does potentially offer a huge fan base well beyond South Florida. That could bring significant more television and merchandising revenue than a typical MLS owner could expect.
According to the Miami Herald, Beckham’s stadium proposal actually offers an alternative to an even more intensive building plan already stitched together by top port executives. It seems they were in Asia earlier this year pitching developers on a proposal to build as much as 7 million square feet of new commercial space at the same corner of the port.
Marc Sarnoff, a Miami city commissioner and a top critic of that development plan, told the paper he himself opposes the idea of building a “Port City’’ on the southwest corner but instead welcomed the Beckham’s proposal for a more modest footprint.
“A million beats the heck out of 7 million, ’’ Sarnoff said, referring to the size of the two proposed developments. “It is an opportunity for everybody to cooperate on the future of the port.”
If Beckham stays his charming self much longer he may yet win over some more voices to his side of the table and even get this done.
David Beckham was one of the world’s best-known high profile soccer players in a career which spanned more than 20 years, eventually retiring at the end of the 2012–13 Ligue 1 season, whilst playing on a voluntary basis for Paris Saint German, with his salary going to the underprivileged of the city. .
Beckham began his professional career with Manchester United, making his first-team debut at the age of just 17 in 1992. During the 10 seasons that he spent with United, Beckham picked up an English Premier League winners medal six times, as well as winning the FA Cup twice, and the highlight of his career to many, the UEFA Champions League in 1999.
David left United at the end of the 2003 season, joining Real Madrid, winning a single La Liga championship in his final season with the club.
In July 2007 Beckham left Europe to play in the North American Major League Soccer championships for the Los Angeles Galaxy, returning to Europe, to spend two loan spells in Italy with Italian club AC Milan in seasons 2009 and 2010. x
David Beckham also made 115 for the English national side, wearing the captain’s armband on 58 occasions over the period of six years.
During his illustrious career, Beckham was twice runner-up for the FIFA World Player of the Year award, as well as being named as one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers, as part of FIFA’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2004.
David Beckham is one of the few world’s top soccer players who has managed to maintain a high profile as a celebrity, aided and abetted by his wife, the former pop singer Victoria Adam, as well as being one of the games highest earners. In 2004 Beckham was recognized as being the world’s highest-paid footballer as much by virtue of his sponsorship deals as the salary that he earned as a soccer player,
As well as his reported agreement to be allowed to open a franchise in the MLS when he signed for Los Angeles Galaxy Beckham succeeded in negotiating the highest player salary in the league’s history- US$6.5 million per season.
David Beckham’s has often referred to himself as being “Half Jewish” as his maternal grandfather was Jewish. in his autobiography “ Both Feet on the Ground” Beckham admitted to having probably more contact with Judaism than any other religion.
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