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Beckham considering Miami for MLS franchise

ESPN staff
May 29, 2013
David Beckham spent five and a half years at MLS club LA Galaxy © Getty Images
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David Beckham is to travel to Miami to explore the possibility of starting an MLS franchise in the city.

The recently retired midfielder had a clause in his contract from his time as a player at LA Galaxy that gives him an option to take up ownership of a club in the league for a set fee of $25 million.

Miami's mayor Manny Diaz said that the former England captain was coming to Florida to look into basing a club there.

"Yes, he is coming," Diaz is quoted as saying by Reuters. "My understanding is that it's very exploratory at this stage."

Diaz was involved in the last time there were discussions over a Miami-based MLS franchise in 2009, when a project involving La Liga giants Barcelona and billionaire Marcelo Claure - owner of Bolivian club Bolivar - failed to get off the ground.

There is not currently an MLS franchise in Florida, nor any of the closest dozen or so states in the region. The closest clubs to Miami are Houston Dynamo to the west and DC United to the north.

The last time the state had any MLS franchises was in 2001, the year both the Fort Lauderdale-based Miami Fusion and the Tampa Bay Mutiny folded.

New York City FC, the joint venture between Premier League side Manchester City and baseball giants New York Yankees, will enter the MLS in 2015 as the league's 20th franchise.

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