David Beckham plans to bring the MLS to Miami.

[prophet]

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news ... -franchise

Beckham is planning on starting his own MLS team in Miami soon. It's no secret that he's wanted to stay in the game since retiring and he's passionate about the MLS but from what I've learnt from our American friends Miami is an awful place for sports teams and the fans there pretty much suck. Regardless, what do we think about this?

[JDD]

I dont know anything about soccer or the MLS but putting a team, regardless of the sport, in Miami is a shitty idea. Fans there are complete shit for the teams in the major american sports like basketball, football and baseball, so i doubt a soccer team would be popular there at all.

[HFX]

Miami is fickle but it's the only city that Beckham was realistically going to choose. After LA and New York, Miami is the biggest international American city. I read the only other option he was slightly considering was San Diego and they aren't much better. I mean does anyone really care, the Big 4 each have a Miami team so why not the MLS. Beckham and his partners have obviously done their research and think it's worth the risk so let them risk it. Can't do any worse than Chivas USA .

Speaking of which Chivas needs to rebrand itself and move into downtown LA or down the road to San Diego

[Everlong]

Miami would actually be a GREAT place for a soccer team, I think, because of the Hispanic population down there. I have a feeling the culture is much more conducive to soccer than most other major American sports.

[AkydefGoldberg]

He was always going to be an owner over there (would have been amazing had he decided to spend the money he is on a lower league team in the UK but whatever) but Miami, on paper seems a decent choice. Great city and like Tim said, maybe a more Hispanic audience might embrace soccer more fervently but hearing Beckham say that he felt he could get soccer to the levels of basketball and baseball was like:



Out of interest, where does David Beckham rank in terms of popularity in terms of sports stars in the States, compared to 2007 when his move to LA Galaxy was pretty much a dead event over there compared to the ridiculous mania over here.

[Camstud]

He was always going to be an owner over there (would have been amazing had he decided to spend the money he is on a lower league team in the UK but whatever) but Miami, on paper seems a decent choice. Great city and like Tim said, maybe a more Hispanic audience might embrace soccer more fervently but hearing Beckham say that he felt he could get soccer to the levels of basketball and baseball was like:



Out of interest, where does David Beckham rank in terms of popularity in terms of sports stars in the States, compared to 2007 when his move to LA Galaxy was pretty much a dead event over there compared to the ridiculous mania over here.

Great use of that GIF.

[AkydefGoldberg]

He was always going to be an owner over there (would have been amazing had he decided to spend the money he is on a lower league team in the UK but whatever) but Miami, on paper seems a decent choice. Great city and like Tim said, maybe a more Hispanic audience might embrace soccer more fervently but hearing Beckham say that he felt he could get soccer to the levels of basketball and baseball was like:



Out of interest, where does David Beckham rank in terms of popularity in terms of sports stars in the States, compared to 2007 when his move to LA Galaxy was pretty much a dead event over there compared to the ridiculous mania over here.

Great use of that GIF.

Ha, thanks! I was waiting to use some of those excellent gifs in that thread and I found it here!

[HFX]

He was always going to be an owner over there (would have been amazing had he decided to spend the money he is on a lower league team in the UK but whatever) but Miami, on paper seems a decent choice. Great city and like Tim said, maybe a more Hispanic audience might embrace soccer more fervently but hearing Beckham say that he felt he could get soccer to the levels of basketball and baseball was like:



Out of interest, where does David Beckham rank in terms of popularity in terms of sports stars in the States, compared to 2007 when his move to LA Galaxy was pretty much a dead event over there compared to the ridiculous mania over here.

Maybe he means in Miami?

MLB: Miami is full of Carribbean transplants where baseball is fairly popular but the Marlins are a terrible organization and has trouble drawing fans.

NBA:The Heats current popularity is based solely around Lebron James joining Miami and winning them a championship. Yes he had help from Wade, Allen and Bosh but without Lebron none of this would have happened for the Heat. There's a chance Lebron might leave Miami this summer, or so I've heard, and that could wind up affecting the team negatively.

NHL: The Florida Panthers get "decent" turn outs but I'm betting a lot of that is from vacationing Canadians and Northern Americans as well as permanent transplants.

NFL/CFB: Both the U and the Dolphins play in a crappy location. The U gets terrible turn outs even though they are pretty decent right now. Dolphins are bad and have been for a while and also have terrible turnouts.

Now those are the Big 4 North American sports. For different yet similar reasons they all don't do well compared to their counter parts in other cities. If soccer could become top dog in any American city it will be Miami. If Beckham and Co. market the team properly, if the team play in a GOOD location stadium and if they can come out of the gates like the Cosmos did in NASL they should be able to make a quick yet solid impression on the masses. The tickets need to be affordable and not marketed at the upper class businessmen. Soccer is a game of the people and it's the people who will make or break your team. If you don't care about the average joe then you might as well not even try. Beckham is a smart man, if he and his partners didn't think they could make Miami work then they would choose another city.