Brightstar founder Marcello Claure and retired football star David Beckham set to unveil plans to launch first Major League Soccer team in Miami since 2001
Brightstar president, chairman and CEO Marcello Claure is to team up with former England star David Beckham to launch a Miami based ‘Major League Soccer’ (MLS) team, according to reports
Claure and Beckham have been linked with setting up a Miami-based MLS franchise for around eight-months.
Beckham, who retired from football after a 21 year playing career in May, spent six years in the MLS with LA Galaxy and was quoted in a national newspaper today (July 16) stating that he is close to revealing his plans.
Claure, who founded Miami based distributor Brightstar in 1997, has made a number of very public appearances with Beckham – most notably appearing court side during a televised Miami Heat basketball match in May.
He had previously attempted to bring the MLS to the Florida state back in 2008 but the MLS league instead chose to launch teams in Portland and Vancouver instead.
If successful, it would be the first MLS team based in Miami since 2001, after previous team Miami Fusion was disbanded after just four years.