Mayor Barbara Sharief has asked all 31 communities in Broward County to identify potential sites for a new soccer stadium to be built by the David Beckham MLS group.
After being rejected twice by Miami and Miami-Dade County officials to build a downtown waterfront stadium — with Miami officials particularly ham-handed in trying to get Beckham and his group to invest in Little Havana — Beckham and his investors have turned to suburban Broward County for a potential MLS stadium site:
Broward Mayor Barbara Sharief says she’s asked all 31 cities to come forward with a list of possible spots for the Major League Soccer stadium.
A few, including Hollywood and Hallandale Beach, are scrambling to oblige. In addition, the county is offering up a spot it owns in Sunrise.
“He has $400 million to invest in a soccer stadium,” Sharief said. “He doesn’t want any tax dollars. He has his own money. He was disappointed with his treatment in Miami.”
This could, of course, just be a ploy to get a better site out of Miami-Dade County; Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez says the Beckham group is still searching there for a site. But with a downtown waterfront site off the table, there’s no strong contender yet as the Beckham MLS group debates its next move.
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