David Beckham Announces New Miami Soccer Team

MIAMI, FL — Jubilant soccer fans poured into the John S. and James L. Knight Concert Center in downtown Miami on Monday to watch global soccer icon David Beckham announce the worst kept secret in professional sports. Beckham delivered on his pledge to bring professional soccer to the Magic City after a four-year quest that required the striker to bend it around a number of zoning and funding obstacles. The new team will be a Major League Soccer expansion team and is expected to take the pitch for the first time in 2020.

"I promise you the team that we will bring into this league will be one of the best teams, will be the best team," Beckham said in making the announcement. "When I was awarded the team there was only one city for me — one city, and it was here."

Beckham did not announce the name of the team or confirm the date that play would commence. The MLS commissioner told Local 10 News that play is expected to commence in 2020.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez were both on hand for the big announcement.

"My fellow Miamians, finally we are here," said Gimenez, who praised Beckham for not giving up on Miami when he ran into bumps along the way. "David, I can now officially say 'welcome to Miami.'"

Suarez said Miami now counts itself among a small number of U.S. cities in the sports world.

"There are only 10 cities in the United States that have all five major sports," he said. "I can tell you that soccer is going to catch up to all the other sports."

Also sharing the stage with Beckham were financial backers Jose Mas, Jorge Mas, Marcelo Claure and Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber.

In true Miami fashion, team Beckham released video of celebrities welcoming the club to South Florida. Watch below:

After the political equivalent of a then three-year soccer match, the Miami-Dade Board of Commissioners in June approved the sale of 2.8 acres of county-owned land to a group headed by the British soccer legend. The 9-4 decision cleared a major hurdle blocking the erection of a soccer stadium in the Magic City and its entry into Major League Soccer.

"The process was lengthy, difficult, but necessary in order to ensure that Miami-Dade County taxpayers were properly compensated," Gimenez acknowledged at the time. "The funds from the $9,015,000.00 purchase will be for the Water and Sewer Department (WASD), which currently owns the parcel of land.

Like many Miamians, Raul Sosa came from a soccer-loving country and had been longing for a professional club.

"I'm a huge fan of soccer," the Argentina native told Patch. "Hopefully people will be more interested and I can go watch it on TV and go see more games."

Beckham said that he plans to create an academy to build "homegrown" talent for the team as clubs do in Europe.

"We want to bring top players from Europe but the thing that we're more interested in is the homegrown talent," he said, adding that he wants the academy to become a potential talent pool for the the U.S. national team. "That's when we're going to sit back and say 'job done.' This is when we're going to be proud of our team."

Beckham's group — Miami Properties, LLC — agreed to buy the land at its appraised value. Gimenez also said that the purchasing company would use private funds to build the proposed stadium and would guarantee at least 50 permanent jobs for the community.

"Today you made my dream come true," Beckham told the audience.

David Beckham of Great Britain and Ireland announced the arrival of Major League Soccer in Miami (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images). Photo credit: Alex Livesey / Staff/ Getty Images News