Major League Soccer began a courtship with the Miami market back in 2012 when Don Garber expressed interest in a new expansion franchise in southern Florida. After seeing the successes of NYCFC and Orlando City FC, it appeared that MLS was desperate to get back into a market that they were forced to exit nearly 15 years ago due to financial difficulties. However, after significant delays and setbacks, many are wondering if reentering the Miami market will wind up being a blessing for the league or a curse.
The David Beckham-led investment group, Miami Beckham United, is spearheading the expansion efforts in Miami. A discounted franchise fee was extended to Beckham by MLS as part of his contract with the league after signing with LA Galaxy. During preliminary discussions between MLS and Miami Beckham United, it was established that in order for the expansion team to be approved, there needed to be a dedicated stadium located in southern Florida. Thus, Beckham and his business partners were tasked with finding the perfect locale for a state of the art stadium and had their sights set on downtown PortMiami.
After countless negotiations and a failed attempt at securing a waterfront stadium location, Miami Beckham United and MLS are now considering the former site of the Orange Bowl. Demolished in 2008, the site is located right next door to Marlins Park, home of the Miami Marlins. While the former Orange Bowl doesn’t offer stellar ocean views or the glitzy atmosphere of downtown Miami, the Little Havana location already has necessary infrastructure like parking garages and access to the freeway in place. However, Marlins Park casts a looming shadow over the Orange Bowl site and over MLS.
When the Orange Bowl was torn down and the Marlins began discussions with the city to build their own stadium, a contract was drafted between the city and the Major League Baseball team that effectively gave the Marlins power over any sport that would want to take residence next door. In order to understand just how much the Marlins can affect the hopeful MLS expansion team, it’s important to understand the provisions set within the contract.
First, the Marlins have the power to veto any stadium design plans that might conflict with the designs of Marlins Park. In fact, the Marlins get to review all stadium plans prior to construction being approved. Once the stadium is built, any lighting chosen for the soccer stadium cannot reflect towards Marlins Park.
Second, the naming rights of the MLS stadium cannot be sold until the Marlins sell theirs; a stipulation that doesn’t seem likely because potential investors have labeled Marlins Park a toxic investment. If (and that’s a big if) the Marlins do eventually sell the naming rights to Marlins Park, the naming rights for the MLS stadium cannot conflict.
If those two provisions were not enough to stop MLS or Miami Beckham United in their tracks, exterior ads can also not conflict with a major Marlins sponsor. If the soccer team does sell an exterior ad, the Marlins have the right to sign with a conflicting sponsor and MLS will be prevented from renewing with their own sponsor.
Finally, the Marlins have full control over game schedules. The future Miami soccer team cannot even schedule their games until the Marlins release their own schedule to avoid any home game conflicts.
Apart from these stipulations, MLS should have no problem flourishing in Miami, right?
Wrong.
The contract provisions are absolutely ludicrous to say the least, but there’s another glaringly obvious problem – Jeffrey Loria, owner of the Miami Marlins. Loria has established a reputation throughout the world of sports as something of a scam artist. He’s known for deceiving taxpayers into footing the bill for Marlins Park (hence investors’ trepidation), trading away high-value players to lower the Marlins’ payroll, and pocketing the additional funds. If there is any provision in the existing contract that would allow Loria to profit over MLS, it will make negotiations in favor of MLS extremely unlikely.
One question comes to mind when faced with all of these obstacles: Would these sorts of restrictions be upheld against any other major sports affiliation in the country?
Major League Soccer has been absent from Miami ever since the demise of the Miami Fusion in 2001. However, every other major sport has been represented in the Miami market prior to that time. The Dolphins, the Heat, the Marlins and the Florida Panthers all have dedicated facilities in Miami. Considering soccer was the only major sport not represented, the contract between the city and the Marlins does not just give the Marlins control over any sport willing to begin stadium construction next door, it gives them full license over soccer specifically.
Why then, when faced with these constraints, would MLS still want to move forward in Miami? With soccer growing exponentially in the United States, the locations begging for an MLS team continue to propagate. North Carolina and St Louis, Missouri have been petitioning for an MLS team for quite some time. Wouldn’t it make more sense to expand into a less saturated sports market instead of Miami where the team would be at the mercy of Major League Baseball?
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MLS has yet to make any comment regarding contract negotiations with the Marlins but many city officials, including Mayor Tomas Pedro Regalado, believe the Major League Baseball franchise will “play ball.” Nonetheless, skeptics may still believe that the city is eager to entice a team capable of generating revenue for the community that the Marlins have failed to deliver.
MLS is now comprised of 20 teams and is set to expand to 24 teams by the end of 2020. With the recent announcement of an Atlanta franchise and a second Los Angeles franchise set to begin in 2017, the league is on target to hit their mark. While a South Florida franchise might be welcomed back to Miami with open arms, the question still remains:
Is it the right move for MLS?
