Argentine soccer icon Lionel Messi is joining the MLS with Inter Miami, ending weeks-long speculation about where he could end up.
Move over Jimmy Butler, South Florida has a new superstar in Lionel Messi.
Now that it is officially official and one of soccer's biggest stars is joining OUR Inter Miami team, we have prepared a few facts before anyone can ask "Por qué Miami?"
So here are seven facts that you should know about Inter Miami
We've Got Beckham
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Just in case you didn't know, David Beckham is one of the owners of the team. Jorge and Jose Mas are also part of the ownership team.
Yes, 'Posh' Spice's husband is going to be paying Lionel Messi's paycheck and it's only fair given that when David Beckham joined the MLS is 2007, he had a special clause inserted in his contract that allowed him to purchase an expansion team when he retired for a cool $25 million.
Forbes recently valued Inter Miami at $600 million, so overall, seems like a good deal.
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Inter Miami has two stadiums…. sort of
While Inter Miami plays their home games at the DRV PNK Stadium, formerly known as Lockhart Stadium, the deal to bring an MLS team to Miami required a soccer-specific stadium to be inside city limits.
And while securing a site was not an easy task for 'Becks' and his team, they did manage to secure a 160 acre area at the Melreese Country Club.
According to the Miami Freedom Park website, the project will be a 28,000 all-seater stadium next to the Miami Internation Airport and will serve as a public park, retail center and tech-hub.
So yea we have two stadiums…. sort of.
No, it's not an Ibis on the crest
If you take a closer look at the crest of Inter Miami, you will see a design and style reminiscent of the city's Art Deco tradition, and while it features two birds, no they are not Ibis'. They're Heron's and their legs join to form an "M" for Miami. Behind those big beautiful birds, are seven rays shooting out of a sun, representing the number David Beckham donned in the back of his jersey for most of his career (sans Real Madrid and LA Galaxy).
Does your team do that? No, I didn't think so.
Ray Hudson is the commentator
For those in the last decade who watch Barcelona in LaLiga in the United States, the voice of Ray Hudson should be as synonymous with Lionel Messi chants.
The Newcastle-born, Fort Lauderdale native was a former player of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and a former coach of the ill-fated Miami Fusion of the early 2000's, and he will be in the booth calling all those goals from the Argentine star.
Inter Miami is all about the environment
In 2023, Inter Miami announced a partnership with Adidas to launch the club's 'One Planet' campaign to raise awareness about the importance of the ocean and its inhabitants.
Inter Miami, alongside adidas, take the process of recycling plastic in the ocean and using it in the fabrications of the jerseys.
Inter Miami is bilingual
When Beckham imagined the team, he said he wanted a "South American flavor" in it. While the popular name for the team is Inter Miami, the full name of the team is Club Internacional de Futbol Miami.
And that puts us as the only team with a spanish name in the MLS.
Our rivals are Orlando
Inter Miami is the second MLS team in Florida and will be playing Orlando City SC in the same conference every year.
The intention is to create a rivalry similar to that of the LA Galaxy vs LAFC, which was appropriately, dubbed "El Trafico" in honor of LaLiga's El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, considered the biggest rivalry in soccer, and the fact the Los Angeles is riddled with, well, traffic.
So there it is, seven facts that you probably didn't know about Inter Miami but now you do.
