Internacional de Fútbol Miami, owned by English soccer icon David Beckham, has cleared a major hurdle in its efforts to secure land to build a stadium for Miami’s new Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchise.

The US$1 billion plans to transform the Melreese Country Club, a city-owned golf course were supported by close to 60 per cent of voters on Tuesday. The endorsement allows the Inter Miami ownership group, which also includes local businessmen Jorge and Jose Mas, Sprint chairman Marcelo Claure and Softbank chief executive Masayoshi Son, to negotiate a lease for the estate.

The referendum had asked voters if the city should grant an exception to move away from normal processes by negotiating a no-bid lease with Beckham’s ownership group, with the outcome backing plans to forego Miami’s competitive bidding law in order to give officials the opportunity to negotiate a no-bid deal with the Inter Miami group.

The 73-acre development of the Freedom Park site, located next to Miami International Airport, is set to include the franchise’s 25,000-seater soccer stadium, as well as 750 hotel rooms and municipal soccer fields. A public park is also set to be constructed next to the flagship venue.

Miami mayor Francis Suarez praised the outcome of the vote, saying: “This is a deal where the citizens are going to get fair market value rent. This is going to be privately funded. We’re going to get a 60-acre park, 23 acres of soccer field and an MLS team headed by Jorge Mas and David Beckham, who just care so much for the city. I mean, it could not be a better deal for the residents of the city of Miami.”

However, the result of the referendum does not signal the end of the matter, with the ownership group requiring approval on the lease from four out of five Miami commissioners in order to push ahead with the development.

One commissioner, Willy Gort, spoke out against the deal. He told daily newspaper the Miami Herald: “It’s a bad deal. It’s a real estate deal, and they’re using the stadium as a hook.”

Fellow commissioner Manolo Reyes also criticised the arrangement, telling the Herald: “If they want a stadium, they should go buy land and build a stadium.”

As well as scepticism over the nature of the terms of the deal, the loss of the Melreese Country Club – the city’s only municipal golf course – has been criticised. The course is also the location for a youth and mentoring program called First Tee Miami.

Beckham acknowledged the existing opposition to the proposal, with 40 per cent of the referendum voting against the Freedom Park-based arena. He said: “Everybody has their right to their opinion. At the end of the day, that’s why there’s a vote. That’s why there’s a yes and a no.

“But tonight, we were successful. We had amazing support and an amazing team that put this together. The hurdles are not over yet. We still have things to clear up over these next few years, but I think we’re in a good place.”

Don Garber, MLS commissioner, described the result as a “historic day for the sport in our country, and another building block in our vision to become a soccer nation.”

The Miami expansion was officially granted in January, with the team set to play at a temporary venue during its inaugural season in 2020, before its own venue is fully constructed.

For more on this story go to: http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/beckham-miami-stadium-referendum-mls