Beckham strikes back: The story behind David Beckham’s newest soccer venture

In a noteworthy move in the sport, former professional footballer David Beckham announced on Monday 29th January that he is helping to launch a Major League Soccer (MLS) club based out of Miami, Florida.

The 42-year-old Beckham had been discussing the possibility of building an expansion team in the MLS since his days with the LA Galaxy. However, months of the behind-the-scenes work with Miami and MLS officials alike finally created a pathway for this opportunity to take place. Characterised as confident and ambitious, this new venture marks yet another impressive business move in Beckham’s off-the-field endeavours since the beginning of his professional career in 1992.

In the United Kingdom, Beckham polarises opinion among football fans all throughout the country. A 12-year star on Manchester United, Beckham gained an immense following by fans mesmerised by his stellar play in both league and national player. He began his domestic career playing for Manchester United in 1992, before finishing up an outstanding club history with Paris Saint-Germain in 2013.

The former captain of the England national team was involved in various professional football organisations for over 25 years, and is considered by many to be one of the best players to ever play the game. Throughout this time, Beckham was well-known by football and non-football fans alike, garnering attention for his physical attractiveness and dedication to the sport.

Since then, Beckham has been reportedly involved with various different ventures, creating a major presence on social media that has translated to a successful career in the entertainment industry. Since his retirement from the sport, it had been speculated that his next major move would centre around a similar purchase of a club, however due to complications this process ending up taking almost five years before completion.

Other stars turned to social media to congratulate Beckham on his most recent success, including tennis legend Serena Williams and Hollywood stars Jay-Z and Jennifer Lopez. Beckham’s connections in the entertainment industry should prove to be useful to the success of his new team, where celebrities combined with their social media platforms make excellent marketing tools to attract fans to their brand. The city of Miami will soon have a franchise in all four major sports leagues in the United States, joining the Dolphins of the NFL, Heat in the NBA, and the Panthers from the Miami metropolitan area.

The move to Miami seemed only fitting, attracting an incredibly large market of fans who have been desperately waiting for the arrival of a new team since their former club Miami Fusion fell apart in 2001. As with many new major sports organisations, the biggest reason for this large gap in franchises was due to extensive discussions between Beckham’s buying group and Miami officials over the past four years. It was not until December 2015 when Beckham was officially able to secure a piece of land in the South Florida area.

This comes as a major win with a younger demographic in the Miami area, with a variety of different Hispanic and Caucasian children who have become fascinated with the sport and its growing league in the United States. Beckham and his group can now shift their focus to an extensive marketing campaign for this new team, gathering as much attention and recognition as possible prior to their instalment into the MLS. Beckham’s worldwide fame combined with one of the largest sports markets into the entire world should prove to be an effective combination and one can only expect a series of success for years to come.

Fans are ecstatic for the opportunity of a soccer legend to be the figurehead for this new club and Beckham himself has been grateful for this experience. “I’ve had a wealth of experience from playing with different clubs in different cities across the world… so that’s where I can my expertise into this ownership group”.

Even though he has no prior coaching or managerial experience, Beckham’s time spent around the sport across multiple disciplines significantly strengthens his position in this league. While it typically takes an extensive period of time for an expansion franchise to find consistent success in its new league, many leaders across the MLS believe this franchise will be different as Beckham’s impressive resume with a variety of different clubs should prove to be useful in his endeavours to bring a championship to the city of Miami. In the coming months, fans should be excited to see this generational store back around a professional team, seeking once again to lead a team into prominence in its respective league.