Inter Miami CF will host its inaugural home opener in Fort Lauderdale on March 14, 2020, squaring off against LA Galaxy.
Backed by an ownership group that includes David Beckham, as well as Jorge and Jose Mas and other investors, Inter Miami CF will begin MLS play next season as an expansion team. The club’s long-term goal is to build a new stadium as part of a larger development plan in Miami, but in the interim it will play home matches in a new venue that is currently being built at the former site of Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
The club’s first game at the venue is now scheduled for Saturday, March 14 at 2:30 p.m. EST, according to an announcement issued Wednesday. A full 2020 schedule will be released at a later date.
“Fútbol is not a sport, it’s a lifestyle. What we are bringing to South Florida on March 14 is a club that unites fans and visitors from all over the world together for the love of the game,” Jurgen Mainka, the chief business officer for Inter Miami CF, said in a press statement. “This is a historic day that our community has waited for, and we look forward to experiencing it together.”
The 19,000-seat Fort Lauderdale stadium is being constructed as part of a complex located off Commercial Boulevard and I-95. It will be adjacent to the Inter Miami CF’s new 50,000 square foot state of the art training facility and its seven professional fields, which will be the home for the MLS, Youth Academy, and USL League One teams, while also hosting international clubs, tournaments, and local high school sports teams.
Inter Miami CF is expected to spend at least the 2020 and 2021 MLS seasons in Fort Lauderdale. The club continues to push a proposal for a permanent home in Miami as part of a larger redevelopment of the city-owned Melreese Country Club, but a final decision has not been made on that plan.
Rendering courtesy Inter Miami CF.
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