David Beckham is perfect for Miami. He's a winner, a one-man stimulus package. And how Miami loves its winners.
Look how LeBron James lifted not only the Heat, but all of South Florida in 2010. In a yearwhen the Dolphins were mediocre at best and the Marlins were downright awful, LeBron strode into town and turned fortunes around for a good NBA franchise bent on getting better.
English footballer Beckham, 38, has the same LeBron-style potential.
When "King James" signed a contract with the Heat, the real thrill for Miamians was theanticipation of a championship dynasty. And that's where the truly "big money" is coming fromnow. The more deep playoff runs the team makes, the more money it hauls in. The team hashosted 10 playoff games in each of the past two years for millions of dollars more. Add tothat playoff tickets, concessions, parking and other spending. And across the Greater Miamiarea, consider the money shelled out on TV ads, sports-bar tabs, pizza deliveries and no endof ancillary products and services. According to Forbes magazine, LeBron James the name added$60 million to the value of the team before the ink on the contract was dry.
Civic leaders are convinced newly retired Beckham, who claims he's "really excited" at the prospect of launching a Major League Soccer franchise in Miami, will bring the same fame and fortune as James did
So am I.
Wherever he goes, Beckham imports winning. He is the first English player to win league titles in four countries. That didn't happen by coincidence.
It's Beckham's international appeal that turns Miami on. Miami is a United Nations of acommunity with a growing appetite for "The Beautiful Game." Never mind that the three-year-oldMiami Fusion soccer franchise gasped its last in 2001. In the first place, the team was largely resented in Miami because games were played in Fort Lauderdale. North Lauderdale, atthat. In the second place, soccer was nowhere near the draw then that it is today. And theteam didn't have anybody anywhere near its midst with the glamor, charisma or resume ofsuccess that David Beckham brings.
The soccer icon had an option in his MLS contract that offered, at retirement, an opportunity for himto purchase an MLS expansion team at a reduced cost, reportedly $25 million. He has confirmed his interest in exercisingthat option, and although Miami isn't the only city he's considering, he's said onseveral occasions -- including during a business trip to the city a week ago -- Miami ispalpably "a thrill just to be in the center of all this."
Beckham sat courtside during Game 5 of the Miami Heat-Indiana Pacers playoffs as a guest of Marcelo Claure, the Bolivian billionaire owner of Brightstar Communications. It was soccer-savvy Claure, with connections to Barcelona Football Club, who tried in 2009 to bring an MLS team to Miami -- and he admits he still wants to.
"I think Miami fans are very passionate about the sport and about winning and of course, itwould have to be successful but its definitely exciting, Beckham told CBS4 television in SouthFlorida.
Beckham increased the coffers of a mildly successful Galaxy team when he jumped across thepond to sign with Los Angeles in July 2007. It was a gamble that paid off mightilyfor owner Anschutz Entertainment Group. The Galaxy now is the richest team in the MLS, worthupward of $100 million.
Forbes' analysis said this about the Galaxy in Beckham's last year with the club: "The teamcreates excitement in the stands and with the media wherever they go, thanks to the import ofmidfielder David Beckham in 2007. His New York-area debut drew 66,000 people to GiantsStadium, five times the typical crowd. Two months after his arrival, weight loss firmHerbalife agreed to a $4 million-a-year jersey sponsorship deal,twice what any other team commands. The payoff for Herbalife: Fans snapped up 300,000 ofBeckhams No. 23 jersey in the first year.
"The teams stadium, Home Depot Center, has 48 suites that lease for as much as $150,000 a season. The 1,500 club seats cost an average of $4,500 per season. Sponsors like American Express, Delta Air Lines and Valero Energy bring in another $6 million annually for the team."
Beckham did all that. Beckham alone, as LeBron James did for the Heat, rocketed the Galaxy's numbers into outer space. Beckhamthe Cash Cow showed the then-13-year-old league what its teams could be with the rightsalesman.
That's what I see for Miami. Beckham will draw great international players to sign there. And he'll lure young American phenoms, rising homeboys who want to start their careers with aBeckham-run academy.
Miami Dade County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz told me Friday that local government is 100percent behind bringing an MLS team back to Miami, and Beckham's interest in leading the way "is the icing on the cake."
"I'm telling you, there's huge political support. It is not only from the county, it's 100percent support from the municipalities, the mayors and the commissioners, the counselors fromthe different cities. They are also extremely supportive," Diaz said.
Beckham and Miami are a perfect fit -- both culturally stimulating, larger than life andwin-needy.
Beckham is at the point in his life where he can do just about anything he pleases. If hepleases to enrich the soccer community in Miami-Dade County, I hope he'll get all theencouragement Diaz has promised. He'll need it. The MLS, which just awarded its 20th franchise to New York,won't be adding another one,apparently, for another few years, though the timeline is uncertain. And nobody knows in what stadium an expansion team would play.
Maybe the English superstar -- perhaps the best dead-ball striker who ever played the game --will have a little influence there, too.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423.
