ClapIt’s been well established by this point that expansion teams are just part of the furniture in Major League Soccer these days, and as long as they do everything by the book, there should be nothing wrong with that. Alas, sometimes there are complications that, from the outside looking in, don’t seem all too professional.
Some of you may remember that around six years ago, English football legend David Beckham launched a campaign to bring an MLS team to Miami. It’s a market that has been incredibly profitable in a series of other sports, and the general thought process was that it could acclimatise itself well to soccer, or, you know, football.
Up to this point there have been a few speed bumps, and that’s putting it lightly. It was announced not too long ago that the planned name of the club would be Inter Miami, or to use its full name, Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami. The complicated nature of the name certainly raised a few eyebrows amongst fans, but in truth, it wasn’t that big of a deal when you consider some of the alternatives that would’ve been available.
Issues arise
Now, a new stadium is set to be built in the not so distant future, with Inter Miami helping to boost the MLS up to 24 teams by 2020 – and 28 a few years later. However, a few more issues have arisen.
According to Newsweek, there could be a chance that Inter Miami have to change their name. This is because Inter Milan, aka FC Internazionale Milano, attempted to file a trademark for the term ‘Inter’ in order to make it an exclusive brand. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be something that sticks, but it’s certainly worth noting that the city of Milan could wind up thwarting the city of Miami in a weird way.
In addition to that, a report from Miami Herald has indicated that a competing soccer group could sue David Beckham’s team over a deal that will see them play at Lockhart Stadium. The FXE Futbol group complained that representatives from Inter Miami overstated an asbestos issue, in order to speed up the process of demolishing the grounds.
There’s no doubting just how hard David has worked in order to get this pushed through and get the green light, but it’s safe to say that he’s going to be limping over the finish line. Once the club eventually does start playing it’s going to be one hell of a moment for both the man himself and the city, with the hope being that soccer in Miami can grow to levels that were previously unheard of.
Overcoming adversity
Do we think that Inter Miami is going to have the same kind of immediate success that has been enjoyed by the likes of Atlanta and Los Angeles? Probably not. But in a way, they don’t need to. They can build at their own pace and continue to go from there, and in a few years time, we can revisit this and see whether or not Beckham’s project has been a success.
