After months of pitches and meetings with potential investors, the Miami Beckham United MLS bid has some new life with the potential addition of financier Todd Boehly to the investment group.
Boehly’s involvement was reported to the MLS Board of Governors as they took up the issue of the Miami Beckham United MLS bid. Some owners had expressed concern over the perceived lack of progress on the effort to bring an expansion team and new stadium to Miami. But, as we noted last week, there has been progress being made behind the scenes, and the emergence of Boehly as an investor did much to assuage MLS concerns — though the league has not yet approved Boehly as a Miami Beckham United MLS investor. (Indeed, there are rumblings some owners are not pleased that Boehly is entering MLS ownership based on David Beckham’s contractural right to buy an MLS franchise for $25 million — lower than the prices recently paid by expansion teams.)
But there’s little reason to think he won’t pass muster, and his presence should ensure progress on the Beckham MLS bid. And let’s face it: MLS is hot for Miami and its status as a trendy market. His background includes a stint as president of Guggenheim Partners, where he was part of the deal to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s now chairman and CEO of Eldridge Industries, but he remains part of the Dodgers ownership. And he may know a thing or two about professional soccer, having been part of a group (Cain Hoy) that bid for the Premier League’s Tottenham Spurs.
So let’s assume Boehly will be approved and added to the Miami Beckham United MLS bid. What comes next? The group has already spent $19 million on six acres of land in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood, waiting to close out the investment group before buying three more acres of land from Miami-Dade County. With that happens, we expect some more news about a new-stadium project (where there has been some quiet work going on as well).
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