When David Beckham’s Inter Miami won approval back in 2018 to build a temporary stadium in Fort Lauderdale so they could finally launch their laughably bad soccer team, one of the things he and his fellow owners promised was that they would build a public park on part of the city land he was being given for the stadium. This wasn’t a new promise — they had also promised to build a park on the Miami golf course where they wanted to build a permanent stadium — but whereas that Miami stadium seems forever away from ever being built, the Fort Lauderdale stadium now exists, so the park must, too, right?
The deal, sealed with a commission vote in 2019, says the park needs to be built by July 2022. Work has not even begun. On game day, the entire span of the grassy parcel is being used as an overflow parking lot…
During the commission’s summer break, [Vice Mayor Heather] Moraitis said, Beckham United presented a surprise proposal that would siphon more land away from the park.
Toothaker said Inter Miami officials are in talks to bring a national women’s soccer league to Fort Lauderdale, describing the development as a gift that fell out of the sky. The team would play under the Inter Miami name and share the 18,000-seat stadium with the men’s team.
With no space left on the 40 acres, the new training facility and practice field would have to be built on a portion of the 20 acres to the south reserved for the public park, Toothaker said.
Moraitis punctuated her point by posing for a photo standing on the erstwhile parkland with a handwritten sign reading “Standing on Empty Promises,” which was a nice touch. However Instagram-savvy the vice mayor is, however, she is only one vote, and three commissioners are all it would take for Beckham to get his way. And it looks like he has the votes, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, including commissioner Steve Glassman, who said a women’s soccer stadium could be used for soccer even after the men’s soccer team moved out from the stadium next door — yeah, look, I’m just reporting what he said here, not trying to make sense of it — and added, “This is not an area that screams out neighborhood park. And you can quote me on that.”
So, okay, since you’re giving Beckham 20 acres of free land that he was supposed to turn over to public use, you’re going to ask him for some more money for that, or some land elsewhere where you’d rather have a park, or something, right? Right, Mayor Dean Trantalis?
“We didn’t give them anything,” he said. “We own the stadium. They have a license to use the stadium for 50 years. They made a $160 million investment in the city. And we own the whole thing. I think that’s a pretty sweet deal for the city.”
Yep, the city of Fort Lauderdale owns the stadium, and Inter Miami is committed to use it for for 50 years and pay (checks notes) zero rent. Pretty sweet deal for the city!
You have to account for the value to politicians of meeting David Beckham, who was a really famous person and fine soccer player about 15 years ago!
Wasn’t his ownership group’s initial position “We aren’t asking anybody for anything. We are paying for everything”?
Wow.
You forget that was for the *permanent stadium* in Miami (that they haven’t formally agreed to yet) and not the *temporary* stadium they are currently using in ft lauderdale.
Kidding aside, it is what they said. Oh the hubris.
Is it crazy for the soccer team to play at the dolphins stadium ?
The Dolphins can’t be bothered to figure out scheduling: https://www.fieldofschemes.com/2019/02/08/14617/friday-roundup-suns-referendum-campaign-fails-panthers-owner-floats-roof-inter-miami-and-raiders-both-still-need-temporary-homes/