Last December David Beckham left the Los Angeles Galaxy. He felt that at that point of his career it was time to retire and move on to new ventures. That new venture will be his own MLS team. Beckham has been considering a location for a few months now, and he has finally settled. The start up fee for Beckham was a discounted $25 million. That is quite the fair price for the ex-MLS star considering BPL team Manchester City and the New York Yankees payed a whopping $100 million to launch their team the New York City FC. The MLS still has to give Beckham the go-ahead to choose Miami as the location for his team.
Miami is a wonderful choice for a MLS team. The two biggest benefits of selecting Miami as the city for Beckham’s franchise is that Miami is a large sports market, and it is also home to a large Hispanic population. Not to mention the nightlife and stardom that comes along with the Miami market. Beckham being a star already will fit in perfect with the Miami crowd. Support from other Miami teams such as the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins will help propel the team into acceptance with the Miami fans. The biggest problem with the Miami fan-base is it is inhabited by a large population of fair-weather-fans. Miami is notorious for fair-weather-fans. The Dolphins and Marlins have experienced the woes of that type of market for years.
The two major keys that will factor into the success for this expansion franchise. First will be how this team is initially marketed. Beckham and his marketing team need to play to their strengths and market the team as a low priced event for families and the middle class. Use the large Hispanic population to your advantage. Welcome and celebrate the games rich history within the Hispanic culture. Second, use the star-power in Miami to your advantage. If fans see LeBron James, Cameron Wake, Dwyane Wade, and so on at you games you will attract more fans from those respective sports. It’s all about the marketing when this team starts up.
It will be interesting in the next few years for the MLS. New York City FC and Beckham’s Miami team should be launched by 2015/2016, and the MLS would like to expand to 24 teams by 2020.
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Zachary Cintron is a pre-junior in Drexel's Sport Management program with a minor in Music Theory and Composition. Zach also writes for his personal blog, Sports and Music Weekly. You can follow Zach on Twitter at @cintronz.
Connect with Zachary Cintron on LinkedIn.
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Zachary Cintron is a pre-junior in Drexel's Sport Management program with a minor in Music Theory and Composition. Zach also writes for his personal blog, Sports and Music Weekly. You can follow Zach on Twitter at @cintronz.Connect with Zachary Cintron on LinkedIn.
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