Miami MLS stadium
| Location | Miami, Florida |
|---|---|
| Owner | Miami MLS team |
| Operator | Miami MLS team |
| Capacity | 25,000 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Tenants | |
| Miami MLS team (MLS) | |
The Miami MLS stadium is a proposed 25,000 seat soccer-specific stadium to be built in Miami, Florida for the yet-to-be-named Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. While the location of the stadium is yet to be finalized, the team's ownership group led by David Beckham has expressed a desire to build on the Miami waterfront, other locations elsewhere in Miami have been offered as fallbacks. Shortly after the team was announced in March 2014, the group presented a plan to build a 25,000-seat stadium at PortMiami, but opposition from port businesses led to the May 2014 announcement of a second location, on a reclaimed land at Museum Park, with a reduced capacity of 20,000, but that site was also rejected by the city of Miami. The team has announced its intent to build the stadium with mostly private funds. In December 2015, a private site was located, along with a commitment to purchase adjacent land owned by Miami-Dade Sewer, that would not seek public funds or tax breaks.
Major League Soccer has stated that a league approval of the Miami's expansion bid was conditional on the team securing a downtown stadium site.
On March 25, 2014, Beckham announced plans to build a 25,000-seat stadium at PortMiami, adjacent to American Airlines Arena in the Downtown area of the city. Under the proposal, the stadium would have been located at the southwest corner of Dodge Island and be accessible by a pedestrian bridge from Biscayne Boulevard and the Miami Heat's American Airlines Arena.
On April 8, 2014, Miami-Dade commissioners refused to let PortMiami relocate a fuel-spill facility that would have needed to move in order to accommodate the stadium and entertainment complex. The stadium plan called for a commercial complex where the facility is located.Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, who had previously proposed developing on the same site, formed the Miami Seaport Alliance (MSA), a coalition of companies and unions based in the port, and led the opposition to the stadium plan. Political strategist Joe Slade White created an advertising campaign for MSA, which later won a national award for best public affairs advertising, claiming that a stadium would worsen traffic problems and interfere with the port's plans to expand and handle increased cargo. Beckham's real estate adviser argued that Royal Caribbean opposed the stadium plan because it paid below-market rates on its lease at the port.
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