David Adams and Kevin Gray MIAMI - From his tattoos to his finely chiseled physique and Armani underwear ads, soccer icon David Beckham oozes Miami-style appeal. Blending charisma with a smart business plan, Beckham intends to launch his own professional soccer team in Miami, a multicultural market that has defied major league owners twice before. But Beckham is known for making long shots. Expectation is high that the former captain of the England team, who retired as a player in May, will exercise a $25 million option in his Major League Soccer (MLS) player contract to start a new team later this year and base it in Miami. The league has confirmed it is in discussions with Beckham but is awaiting a formal bid, including details of the city, the ownership group, and a stadium plan, which is expected before the end of the year. A source close to the negotiations described a financial plan that is well advanced if incomplete. Beckham declined requests for an interview, but he has been touring Miami and recently said the city was ripe for a new soccer team. Finding the right location for a stadium and financing is not easy in Miami. Taxpayers have soured on publicly financed stadium deals after a $500 million baseball stadium with a retractable roof for the Miami Marlins failed to draw fans. The state legislature rebuffed the Miami Dolphins' request for public funding of a $350 million renovation of its privately owned American football stadium. Instead, Beckham is assembling a group to invest $150-200 million in private financing for a new soccer stadium in Miami's urban core by 2018-19, according to the source, who divulged financial details that have been under wraps until now. The same person stressed that the plans are still in the early stages and the cost could vary according to the final site choice. “He will not be asking for taxpayer money,” the source added, noting that Beckham was well aware of local resistance to public financing. “That is very encouraging, a big boost,” said Chip Iglesias, Miami-Dade County Deputy Mayor who met with Beckham this week after a tour of possible stadium sites. He said the commitment to private financing was bound to create local goodwill. Beckham envisions building the team with veteran players, international stars who, following his own lead when he moved from Real Madrid to Los Angeles, will hang up their cleats in other established markets to finish their careers in America, the frontier of soccer. “David realizes he needs to create a club in the region that is going to become an international destination for the city that is going to attract the best players. It's going to be a bridge between Latin America and North America and Europe,” the source close to Beckham's management said. Beckham has said he has no interest in coaching but will run the team. “He will be across all aspects, from the way it's run, to the stadium, to what the uniform looks like, to what players are brought in, to who the CEO is,” the source said. “For him, this is a passion project.” This year, Beckham led Sports Illustrated's list of the 20 highest-earning international athletes with an estimated $48 million in earnings, most of it from endorsement deals. His estimated net worth is $250 million, according to Wealth-X, a global research firm. His management company, 19 Entertainment, is run by British businessman and American Idol creator Simon Fuller. Beckham also has toured stadium sites with billionaire Marcelo Claure, founder of Miami-based Brightstar Corp, the world's largest wireless distributor and the provider of global services to Apple. Claure, who owns one of the top soccer teams in his native Bolivia, last month sold a 57 percent stake in Brightstar to Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp — owners of Sprint — for $1.26 billion. He and Beckham plan to work together on the Miami bid but have not signed an agreement, the person familiar with Beckham's initiative said. Beckham hopes for another couple of investors as well. On Oct. 30 Claure wrote on his Twitter feed: “We don't have a deal with Beckham now, and we are still discussing and progressing.” He declined to comment for this story. — Reuters
