Circle March 14, 2020 on your calendar.
It is the day Inter Miami CF will arrive at home in Major League Soccer, which will be over six years since the Florida city was awarded an MLS expansion franchise.
This also means that Inter Miami will begin their inaugural season on the road, as the 2020 MLS campaign is scheduled to being in late February.
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On Wednesday it was announced that David Beckham’s MLS franchise will finally play their first home game as an expansion franchise, as they host LA Galaxy at Fort Lauderdale Stadium at 2:30 p.m. ET.
This will be a lovely moment for Beckham, as the team he has co-ownership of will face the MLS team he played for as a Designated Player.
“Futbol comes full circle as Inter Miami faces former MLS club of David Beckham, the LA Galaxy. As a player, the Galaxy was the MLS side of Beckham between 2007-2012. Now, as club owner of inter Miami, Beckham will be supporting alongside the 18,000 in attendance and countless tuning in from afar.”
This will also mark the second time an MLS has played in Miami, as the now defunct Miami Fusion played from 1998-2001 and called Lockhart Stadium (on the same site as Inter Miami CF’s brand new Fort Lauderdale stadium) home.
Beckham’s ownership group are in ongoing talks with the City of Miami and other parties about building their permanent 25,000 capacity stadium on the Freedom Park site close to Miami International Airport. A key vote this week saw the plans for Freedom Park stalled once again, as Beckham continues to struggle to find a permanent home for his team in and around downtown Miami.
Until then the 18,000 capacity temporary stadium in Fort Lauderdale will be home, and when they finally move into a more permanent venue its capacity will be reduced to house their reserve side, while Inter Miami CF’s training ground will be located on the same site.
Many refused to believe Beckham’s Inter Miami CF would ever arrive in Major League Soccer, but he is now their Director of Soccer operations and work on their home in Fort Lauderdale is well under way.
Now that their first home game is scheduled and it is just four months away, it all seems very real.