MIAMI – Major League Soccer is expected to make an announcement concerning David Beckham and his possible expansion franchise in Miami within the next 30 days, MLS Commissioner Don Garber told MLSSoccer.com.
The former England captain is expected to place his team in Miami, and he has visited several times over the past few months. The league and Beckham want the stadium in an urban setting.
"I was down there this past weekend, and I've been down there a lot, working with potential ownership and trying to finalize a stadium plan." Garber said at the MLS SuperDraft, according to MLSSoccer.com. "Right now, we've got a lot of work to do, and we'll announce something in early February."
Beckham has been working with Bolivian telecommunications mogul Marcelo Claure and continues to make progress with local authorities, sources told SI.com last month. LeBron James, who owns a stake in Liverpool, has also had preliminary talks with Beckham about a team in Miami.
Garber said in December that he was optimistic about an expansion franchise in Miami, insisting that if Beckham and his group can come up with proper financial support and stadium plan, that, "we could have a formula for success."
Miami-Dade County commissioners voted in December to allow Mayor Carlos Gimenez to find locations in or near downtown to build a soccer-specific stadium for the new MLS franchise.
"There's a lot of work that needs to happen," Garber said in December. "We can't go to Miami without the right stadium solution. David understands that. The city understands that. That's an indisputable fact. We can't have different rules in Miami than we have in any other city. We want to do as much as we can to work with David and Simon Fuller to get something done as quickly as we can."
The option of becoming a team owner was included in the MLS contract Beckhman signed when he joined the Galaxy in 2007.
League officials hope to expand to 24 teams by the 2020 season.