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Miami MLS Stadium Lawsuit Tossed; Team Files Logos With USTPO

Internacional Club de Futbol Miami

Lots of news coming from Miami, where a judge has tossed a lawsuit challenging a fall referendum on a proposed Miami MLS Stadium, and the team filed trademark registrations for new logos with the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office.

Local attorney William Douglas Muir had filed suit in circuit court seeking to block a referendum authorized by the Miami City Commission asking voters to approve a proposed Miami MLS stadium development project, slated for the site of the city-owned Melreese Country Club. The issue will be on the November ballot. Muir’s argument: that by not opening the lease to competitive bidding, the Miami City Commission violated city laws and procedures.

Judge Reemberto Diaz, however, ruled that the city did indeed follow its own procedures and dismissed the lawsuit, saying Muir lacked standing to challenge the referendum. And while there may be another legal challenge to the referendum arguing that the commission failed to follow the state’s Sunshine Laws for comment and public input, for now the referendum stands.

It should also be noted that the referendum will merely authorize the city to negotiate a stadium deal — it would not in and of itself move the project forward. Beckham and his group would still have to negotiate lease terms with the City of Miami, and that agreement will need approval from at least four of Miami’s five commissioners.

Meanwhile, we have another piece of information about the team’s branding thanks to the USTPO filings, per the Miami Herald:

The circular logos are mostly black with pink and white trim, including what appear to be great blue herons whose intertwined legs form a letter “M”, and a sunbeam. At the bottom of the logo is the roman numeral MMXX, which is 2020, the year the team is scheduled to begin play. Inter Miami would be the shortened version of the team name. Beckham’s managing partner Jorge Mas wouldn’t comment on the trademarked logo, but confirmed that Doubleday & Cartwright, a design and media agency based in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, specializes in sports and art and has been working on the logo/shield and uniform. Their clients include EA Sports, ESPN, NBA, Nike, Puma, Red Bull, Google and Apple.

Along with Beckham, the Miami MLS group features a contingent that includes prominent local businessmen Jorge and Jose Mas, American Idol founder Simon Fuller, SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. The group is zeroing in on the Melreese site, located near Miami International Airport, so that it has a large enough location to construct a new stadium that is attached to a larger development project. The proposal, dubbed Miami Freedom Park, features a new 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium, along with surrounding development that includes hotels, retail, offices, and other features on 73 acres, plus 58 acres of park space on the remainder of the 131-acre site. The MLS group would enter into a lease of up to 99 years.

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August Publications