Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional
soccer club based in the
Miami metropolitan area
The Miami metropolitan area (also known as Greater Miami, the Tri-County Area, South Florida, or the Gold Coast) is the ninth largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the List of largest cities, 34th largest metropolitan ar ...
.
Established in 2018, the club began play in
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...
(MLS) in the
2020 season. The club currently plays its home MLS matches at
DRV PNK Stadium, the site of the former
Lockhart Stadium
Lockhart Stadium was a stadium used mostly for soccer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was used in a variety of sports, particularly soccer and American football.
Originally designed in 1959 for high school sports, the stadium's ...
in nearby
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
.
History
In November 2012, MLS commissioner
Don Garber
Donald P. Garber (born October 9, 1957) is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federati ...
confirmed the league's renewed interest in placing an expansion franchise in Miami,
after the
Miami Fusion folded following the
2001 season and an expansion bid led by Miami-based Bolivian telecom entrepreneur
Marcelo Claure and
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...
failed in 2009.
When
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending f ...
, who had received an option to purchase an expansion team at a price of $25 million when he joined the league in 2007, ended his playing career in April 2013, the league held preliminary discussions with Beckham's advisers about several expansion targets, including Miami. That same year, other investors, including Italian financier Alessandro Butini and
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...
owner
Stephen M. Ross
Stephen Michael Ross (born May 10, 1940) is an American real estate developer, philanthropist, and sports team owner. Ross is the chairman and majority owner of The Related Companies, a global real estate development firm he founded in 1972. Rel ...
expressed interest in owning a Miami franchise as well.
In his December 2013 State of the League address, Garber identified Beckham and
Simon Fuller
Simon Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer renowned for nurturing and inspiring world class entertainment talent. He is the creator of the ''Idols'' TV format, including the UK ...
as potential owners in Miami.
Later that month, on December 17,
Miami-Dade County commissioners voted unanimously to allow Mayor
Carlos A. Giménez
Carlos Antonio Giménez ( ; born January 17, 1954) is a Cuban-born American politician and retired firefighter serving as the U.S. representative for . He was redistricted from . A Republican, he served as mayor of Miami-Dade County from 2011 to ...
to negotiate with the Beckham-led group on a new stadium in downtown Miami.
The league announced that Beckham exercised his option on February 5, 2014,
and that Miami Beckham United, the investment group led by Beckham, Fuller and Claure, would own an expansion franchise in Miami, assuming that financing for a stadium could be agreed upon.
In presentations to officials and potential investors, the ownership group used "Miami Vice" and "Miami Current" as
working title
A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...
s for the club. After its initial stadium proposals fell through, Commissioner Garber reiterated in August 2014 that the expansion would not be approved until a downtown stadium plan was secured. Beckham bought Fuller out in May 2019.
On January 29, 2018, the Miami Beckham United group, four years after the ownership's original announcement of pursuing a team, was awarded the twenty-fifth MLS franchise and was set to launch in the 2020 season. The announcement represented part of a larger MLS expansion that would increase its number of teams to 26 by 2020 and 30 after that. Since Beckham's original announcement of his intention to place a team in Miami in 2014,
Orlando City,
New York City FC
New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned ...
,
Atlanta United,
Minnesota United,
Los Angeles FC
Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...
, and
FC Cincinnati
Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...
have all begun MLS play. Paul McDonough was hired as sporting director effective August 4.
The team's ownership now operates through Miami Freedom Park LLC.
Some graphics used by the group have evoked the
Freedom Tower, a city landmark.
''Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami'', or ''Inter Miami CF'' for short, was announced as the club's name on September 5, 2018.
On December 30, 2019, former
Uruguay national team player and
C.F. Monterrey manager
Diego Alonso was announced as the club's inaugural head coach.
Inter Miami's first MLS game was played on March 1, 2020, losing 1–0, away to
Los Angeles FC
Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...
.
Designated Player Rodolfo Pizarro
Rodolfo Gilbert Pizarro Thomas (born 15 February 1994) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.
Pizarro broke into the senior Pachuca team in 2012, remaining there unti ...
scored the first goal in Inter Miami history the following game on March 7, in a 2–1 loss to
D.C. United. Their first home match was supposed to be on March 14, 2020, against
LA Galaxy
LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...
, Beckham's former club. The match has since been delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
. On August 23, 2020, Inter Miami recorded their first franchise victory, 3–2 over
Orlando City. On January 18, 2021,
England Women's manager
Phil Neville was appointed as the new head coach, and
Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...
's
Chris Henderson
Christopher Henderson (born December 11, 1970) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. He earned 79 caps with the U.S. national team and part of the U.S. team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. At the time of hi ...
as chief soccer officer and sporting director.
On May 28, 2021, MLS announced that it would sanction Inter Miami CF, owner Jorge Mas, and former sporting director Paul McDonough for violating roster rules during the 2020 season. The club had signed
Blaise Matuidi and
Andrés Reyes using targeted
allocation money (TAM) to comply with salary cap requirements and avoid using its three
Designated Player slots, but were found to have exceeded the TAM maximum of $1.61 million per player. MLS fined the club $2 million and reduced its allocation dollars by $2.27 million for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, while Mas was fined $250,000 and McDonough was suspended from league activities through the end of the 2022 season. Prior to the announcement, Matuidi was reclassified as a Designated Player by taking the slot occupied by
Matías Pellegrini, who was loaned to
Fort Lauderdale CF
Inter Miami Club de Fútbol II, commonly known as Inter Miami CF II, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that plays in the MLS Next Pro, the third-tier of A ...
after his contract was bought out by the club.
Colors and badge
The Miami Beckham United group unveiled the team's name and colors on September 5, 2018. The name was announced as Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (Inter Miami CF). The
crest, designed in style and colors that recall the city's
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...
architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
tradition, displays two
great white herons with interlocking legs forming a letter ''M''. Between the herons is an eclipse, the sun bearing seven rays in an homage to the number Beckham often wore as a player.
The team colors are pink, black and white. The
full achievement
In heraldry, an achievement, armorial achievement or heraldic achievement (historical: hatchment) is a full display or depiction of all the heraldic components to which the bearer of a coat of arms is entitled. An achievement comprises not only ...
displays the team name encircling all with the Roman numerals ''MMXX'' representing the year 2020, the inaugural season of play.
The species of the birds in the crest was the subject of debate after its announcement and unveiling, with some speculating them to be
flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbean) ...
s and
egret
Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same buil ...
s. The team later announced that the birds are white herons.
The club's name has been the subject of a
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...
dispute with Italian club
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...
, which had filed a claim with the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the protected use of "Inter" in 2014. MLS filed an objection to the trademark claim in April 2019, arguing that the name "Inter" was generic due to its use by
other clubs and could not be claimed exclusively. , the case continues.
Stadium
Miami Freedom Park
In March 2020, Inter Miami began to play in Fort Lauderdale. They will continue to do so until their new stadium, to be known as
Miami Freedom Park
Miami Freedom Park is a proposed 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium to be built in Miami, Florida, United States as the home of Major League Soccer team Inter Miami CF. In spring 2022, final approval was given by the city of Miami to build ...
, is completed.
The current proposal is for a 25,000-seat stadium that would form part of Freedom Park, a mixed-use complex on the present site of the city-owned Melreese Country Club near the
Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...
. Approval for construction of the stadium depended on the outcome of a public
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...
held on November 6, 2018.
The result of the referendum had roughly 60 percent of voters approving the measure to convert the city-owned golf course near the international airport into Inter Miami CF's new stadium,
Miami Freedom Park
Miami Freedom Park is a proposed 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium to be built in Miami, Florida, United States as the home of Major League Soccer team Inter Miami CF. In spring 2022, final approval was given by the city of Miami to build ...
.
The proposed development, to be built on public land, will include of office, retail and commercial space, 750 hotel rooms, of public soccer fields in addition to the stadium, and the remaining will be a public park. The owners will also make annual installments of $20 million for 30 years for improvements to public parks across the city. The agreement still requires the approval of a four-vote supermajority of the five City of Miami commissioners. The plan had faced opposition from supporters of the golf club and many details, such as fiscal responsibility for toxic incinerator ash in the soil, remain to be worked out.
The decision follows a lengthy exploration of options. Some locations that had previously been considered included:
Dodge Island
Dodge Island is an artificial island near downtown Miami, Florida, United States. The Port of Miami is located on Dodge Island and has berths for both cruise and cargo ships.
The original and much smaller Dodge Island was created during the ...
at
PortMiami (2013), the
Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and Park West. It ...
waterfront at
Museum Park (2014), a site adjacent to
MLB's
Marlins Park (2015), and a privately owned site in Miami's
Overtown (2015–16).
The team also considered the
Riccardo Silva Stadium at
Florida International University
Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florida ...
.
DRV PNK Stadium
DRV PNK Stadium is a soccer stadium in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
on the site of the former
Lockhart Stadium
Lockhart Stadium was a stadium used mostly for soccer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was used in a variety of sports, particularly soccer and American football.
Originally designed in 1959 for high school sports, the stadium's ...
.
The stadium is oriented north–south for soccer configuration, so the sun won't be in the eyes of the goalie.
The stadium is the primary headquarters for the team and its youth academy in addition to further training grounds.
The
Fort Lauderdale Strikers announced in 2016 that they were moving out of Lockhart Stadium, after which the stadium fell into a state of disrepair.
In late January 2019, Inter Miami announced its intentions to pursue the Lockhart Stadium site to serve as the club's training ground for its first team,
USL League One
USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championsh ...
reserve team
Fort Lauderdale CF
Inter Miami Club de Fútbol II, commonly known as Inter Miami CF II, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that plays in the MLS Next Pro, the third-tier of A ...
, and youth academy. The development would also include an 18,000-seat stadium, which will serve as the permanent home of Fort Lauderdale CF and as the interim home for Inter Miami for at least the first two seasons while the
Miami Freedom Park
Miami Freedom Park is a proposed 25,000-seat soccer-specific stadium to be built in Miami, Florida, United States as the home of Major League Soccer team Inter Miami CF. In spring 2022, final approval was given by the city of Miami to build ...
stadium is under construction. The Fort Lauderdale city council unanimously approved Inter Miami's bid for the Lockhart Stadium site in March 2019. In April, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission cleared Inter Miami to begin the demolition process.
On July 9, 2019, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission unanimously approved a 50-year lease agreement for the Lockhart Stadium site with Inter Miami; under the terms of the agreement, the city will retain ownership of the property while the soccer club will be responsible for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the new facilities.
Training complex
In late January 2019, the club announced its intentions to pursue the
Lockhart Stadium
Lockhart Stadium was a stadium used mostly for soccer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States. It was used in a variety of sports, particularly soccer and American football.
Originally designed in 1959 for high school sports, the stadium's ...
site in
Fort Lauderdale
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
to serve as the club's training ground for its first team, youth academy, and future
United Soccer League
United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...
(USL) team.
The new training complex consist of over of grass and green space, that will include various amenities such as a park, youth soccer fields, and a community center. Upon completion, the complex is used as the permanent training facilities for all levels of Inter Miami's teams ranging from their Youth Academy teams and USL League One team to the first team that plays in MLS.
Ownership
The ownership group behind the franchise was first formed in 2013 as Miami Beckham United, though it now trades under the name Miami Freedom Park LLC.
The original ownership group was led by Miami-based Bolivian businessman
Marcelo Claure, while
Masayoshi Son
Masayoshi Son ( ja, 孫 正義, translit=Son Masayoshi, ko, 손정의, translit=Son Jeong-ui) (born 11 August 1957) is a Korean-Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor, financier and philanthropist. A 3rd generation "Zainichi Kore ...
and brothers
Jorge and Jose Mas were added to the ownership group in 2017. The effort originated in a contract
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending f ...
signed with MLS in 2007; he joined
LA Galaxy
LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...
and negotiated an option to own an
expansion team
An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...
at a discounted
franchise fee.
On September 17, 2021, it was announced that Beckham and the Mas brothers had bought out Claure and Son's stakes in the ownership group.
Ares Management
Ares Management Corporation is an American global alternative investment manager operating in the credit, private equity and real estate markets. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with additional of ...
was also added to the ownership group.
Supporters
The club has three official supporters groups: Siege, Southern Legion, and Vice City 1896.
Players and staff
Squad
Out on loan
Technical staff
Head coaches
Records
Seasons
This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by Inter Miami. For the full season-by-season history, see
List of Inter Miami CF seasons.
1. Avg. Attendance include statistics from league matches only.
2. Top Goalscorer(s) includes all goals scored in League, MLS Cup Playoffs
The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams quali ...
, U.S. Open Cup
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...
, MLS is Back Tournament, CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Amer ...
, FIFA Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
, and other competitive continental matches.
Infrastructure
Reserve team
On October 9, 2019, the club announced that they will be fielding a
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
in the third tier of US Soccer,
USL League One
USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championsh ...
. This team allows the club to prepare future players with quality competition in hopes of being called up to the first team. The unnamed League One Miami team will train at the training facilities of
Inter Miami CF Stadium
DRV PNK Stadium (pronounced as Drive Pink Stadium, formerly Inter Miami CF Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Built on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium, the 18,000-seat stadium is the home pitch of Inter ...
.
The team was to open their inaugural season on March 27, 2020, against
Union Omaha at Inter Miami CF Stadium but the match was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On February 24, 2022, Fort Lauderdale CF announced that the team had rebranded as
Inter Miami CF II
Inter Miami Club de Fútbol II, commonly known as Inter Miami CF II, is an American professional soccer club based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that plays in the MLS Next Pro, the third-tier of American soccer. The club was established on F ...
ahead of their move to the
MLS Next Pro
MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...
, the new reserve league for MLS teams.
Academy
The Inter Miami CF Academy is the official
youth academy and development system of Inter Miami CF that was established in 2019.
The academy consists of various levels of age groups, ranging from U-12 to U-17. These teams will also train at the training grounds in
Inter Miami CF Stadium
DRV PNK Stadium (pronounced as Drive Pink Stadium, formerly Inter Miami CF Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Built on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium, the 18,000-seat stadium is the home pitch of Inter ...
alongside their MLS and USL League One counterparts. All of Inter Miami's youth teams compete in the
MLS Next soccer league as of the inaugural 2022 season. The system covers the under-12, under-13, under-14, under-15, and under-17 age groups.
Media
The team's first three matches in the 2020 season were assigned to national broadcasts; a broadcast deal was not announced before the suspension of play due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the team did announce that
Ray Hudson will serve as color commentator, Andres Cordero will serve as the play-by-play commentator, joined by
Fernando Fiore as the host, and
Kaylyn Kyle as the sideline reporter. On April 3, 2020, the club announced a regional English-language television deal with
CBS Television Stations, under which its regional matches will air on
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
affiliate
WBFS-TV, with selected matches airing on
CBS station
WFOR-TV
WFOR-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WBFS-TV (channel ...
. Then on April 30, the club announced a Spanish rights deal with
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and inclu ...
, where games will be aired on its TV affiliate
WAMI and radio affiliate
WQBA, with a broadcast team consisting of Ramses Sandoval, , , , Nicholas Cantor and Tony Cherchi.
With every MLS game available on
Apple TV
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ...
via their rights deal in 2023, Inter Miami games will be broadcast almost exclusively on this service, with exceptions for certain national linear television broadcast partners.
References
External links
*
{{Portal bar, Association football, United States
Association football clubs established in 2020
Major League Soccer teams
Soccer clubs in Miami
2020 establishments in Florida