This is how Inter Miami was Founded.

    Inter Miami is now home to the greatest player of all time, but just 7 years ago, when Messi was receiving his 5th Ballon d’Or, this club quite literally did not exist. Anyway, today we want to look at the crazy way this lowly club was founded, and we’ll start from the very beginning. This story dates all the way back to January 2007 when it was first confirmed that David Beckham would be leaving Real Madrid, the biggest club in Europe, to join LA Galaxy, a club in the MLS. That came as a massive shock to the entire world of football because Beckham was one of the biggest superstars and the most marketable player in world football at that time, so absolutely nobody expected him to give up a new deal with Real Madrid to move to the US to play football. But well, he did it, and his announcement alone shot up the profile of the entire MLS. David Beckham’s move was very unique. Apart from the crazy amounts of money he was going to earn, the English midfielder’s contract provided him an option to purchase an MLS expansion franchise whenever he stopped playing in the MLS. And he was free to establish the franchise anywhere he wanted except New York. And wherever he eventually decided to settle, he would only have to pay a flat fee of 25 million dollars, the lowest fee ever demanded to acquire an MLS expansion franchise. 

This is how Inter Miami was Founded.

    Anyway, Beckham left the MLS in 2012, and that was the year when the thought of establishing a club called Inter Miami. But why Miami of all cities? See, in November 2012, the MLS commissioner confirmed that there was a real interest in placing an MLS expansion franchise in the city of Miami. The last Miami based club – Miami Fusion – folded up in 2001 and a bid to set up another club in the city led by Marcelo Claure and FC Barcelona failed in 2009. So, when Beckham retired from professional football in 2013, he sat with the MLS to discuss his option to purchase an expansion team, and since they really wanted one in Miami, they convinced him to settle for the city in Florida. After all the meetings, Beckham finally officially exercised his option on the 5th of February, 2014. At the time, the working names for the club were Miami Vice and Miami Current. Not the most exciting names, are they? 

   Anyway, Beckham and his team went on with that name as they sought investors, and it immediately turned out to not be as easy as they initially thought. The first roadblock they experienced was the commissioner telling them in August 2014 that the expansion would not get approval until they had secured a downtown stadium plan. Beckham definitely could not do all of this alone, so he formed a team and called it the Miami Beckham United group. This group consisted of 6 people: Masayoshi Son (founder of SoftBank and second richest Japanese alive), Marcelo Claure (telecom entrepreneur based in Miami), Simon Fuller (TV producer, entrepreneur, and creator of Pop Idol and American Idol), Jose and Jorge Mas (leaders of telecoms company MasTec), and of course, David Beckham himself. At this point, it is important to note that Simon Fuller and David Beckham already had an existing relationship before this whole MLS expansion business. In 2003, Fuller and Beckham formed a joint venture partnership, and it was Fuller who negotiated Beckham’s contract to join LA Galaxy.                 Anyway, the entire Miami Beckham United group toiled together, and  eventually they were able to make it work. In 2018, the Miami Beckham United group was awarded the 25th MLS franchise ready to be launched in the 2020 season. The Miami Beckham United group would then change its name to Miami Freedom Park LFC, and in September 2018 the club was christened. They officially named it:Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami or Inter Miami CF for short. 

        And of course, the name is Spanish because it pays homage to the city itself which is densely populated by the latino and Spanish speaking communities.

    Later that year the club’s first ever director of football, Paul McDonough, was hired, and the following year, the first ever head coach, Diego Alonso, was installed. In 2019, David Beckham bought Simon Fuller out for 50 million pounds. A pretty small amount considering Simon Fuller was there from the very beginning. And when we say from the beginning, we mean from the point when Beckham moved to the MLS in 2007 up until Inter Miami was finally founded. But then again, it is perhaps because of that existing relationship that Fuller sold his interests to Beckham for an amount that little. And that was not the only buying out that would happen. In 2021, Jose and Jorge Mas as well as David Beckham would go on to buy out Marcelo Claure and Masayoshi Son, which meant that they took over majority ownership of the club. So now, the co-owners of the franchise are listed as David Beckham and Jose Mas, while Jorge Mas is listed as the managing owner. 

    David Beckham functions as the president of the club. The club’s first MLS game was played on the 1st of March 2020, against LAFC, and best believe, it wasn’t as star-studded as when the same fixture was played on the 4th of September, 2023. The club’s first ever home game was supposed to be a fairytale game against Beckham’s former club LA Galaxy, but the COVID pandemic didn’t let that happen. After establishing themselves as an MLS club in 2020, Inter Miami’s next plan of action was to begin to lure superstar players from Europe to establish themselves as real powerhouses in the US. They managed to sign World Cup winning midfielder Blaise Matuidi as well as legendary Argentine striker and World Cup finalist Gonzalo Higuain both from Juventus in 2020. Higuian, by the way, now stands as the club’s all-time highest goalscorer after spending 2 years at the club. But now, it seems that the club has entered the most significant era of its history. In the summer of 2023, David Beckham was able to convince the greatest player of all time to move to Inter Miami just 3 years after playing their first MLS game. Lionel Messi’s signing brought about immense commercial benefits for the club, increased their status as a global sports brand, skyrocketed their followers on Instagram from 1 million to 15 million, and his arrival also made ticket prices see a 1000% jump. Of course, that’s not exactly good news for the diehard fans who have been there since day 1, but awesome news for the club because these games keep selling out fast. 

   Messi’s signing also made it possible for Inter Miami to attract other world stars including World Cup winning legend Sergio Busquets and Champions League winning left-back Jordi Alba. But most significantly, Messi joining Inter Miami has elevated them from being the worst club in the country to being one of the best. Just a month after his debut for the club, Messi won the club its first ever trophy – the 2023 Leagues Cup. A few days after that, he sends them to another major final – the US Open Cup final. He snapped an 11-game winless run on his debut and has turned it around to an 11-game unbeaten streak so far. Now, from being rooted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference, Inter Miami could realistically make the playoffs this season. 

    We’re pretty sure that this was the dream David Beckham had when he and his team first established an MLS expansion franchise in 2018. Anyway, that was just a quick rundown of the history of Inter Miami from conception till present day, 5 years after the club was officially founded. So, over to you now. Where do you see the club in the next 5 years? Will they become multiple-time MLS champions? Will they be the biggest sporting brand in the US? Will they have a statue of Lionel Messi outside their stadium? Tell us what you think in the comments. Catch you in the next one.

Bye!

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