Saturday, July 18, 2015

Thoughts on Beckham deal with City with no UM involvement (for now)

I've had a little over 24 hours to digest what this tentative deal means here. Here's my take:

Marcelo Claure comment to Doug Hanks of the Miami Herald yesterday: “Obviously we are in conversations with the University of Miami, but we figured we are running out of time,. “MLS has been very clear: if we are going to bring soccer to Miami, it needs to be now.”

Translation: Beckham and his people couldn't wait until after 9/1 when Julio Frenk takes over as new President of UM. However, the opening is still there if you want to join down the line. 

UM isn't in the deal "at this time". That's not to say they won't be down the line. There's 17 years left in that least at Sun Life and I find it hard to believe that UM couldn't find an out in that lease, which I'm sure they could have. When they talk about getting out of the Sun Life lease being costly, its to the tune of $50 Millon. Given UM's history of being tight-fisted with the money, I don't believe the BOT would have the stomach to pay Stephen Ross (Miami Dolphins Owner) that kind of jack to get out of that lease. 

Granted, the renovations at Sun Life will help in the short term, but you have to wonder if Frenk has the same thinking Donna did and eventually wanting out of Sun Life to join Beckham in Little Havana down the road. To expand to 40K (45K for big games like UF, FSU, ND, etc), could easily be done. What Cam Underwood (follow him on Twitter at @UnderwoodSports) said in his piece on State of the U (its a good read by the way) was absolutely correct and I agree with this totally. If UM ultimately decides down the line to join Beckham, they need to pony up the dollars needed to get those extra 15-20K seats in there.  Housing UM also would move Beckham’s 25,000-seat soccer stadium to about 40,000 seats, complicating the budget and design logistics.

According to Barry Jackson piece in Miami Herald on 7/18/15, his MLS source said that Beckham’s group would like UM to contribute toward construction costs, which Underwood mentions in that State of the U piece. Jackson's source said Beckham’s group has never made a specific financial request to UM or even given UM any specific proposal for a 40,000-seat stadium. There's still some time to get in for UM, but now, with Beckham's announcement yesterday, the ball is clearly in UM's court to get this done once Frenk officially takes over as UM president on 9/1. 

One idea was suggested by Jackson in that same Herald piece on 7/18/15, and I tend to like this idea more and more here. He mentioned that the stadium could have 25K to start for MLS use, but ultimately when, not if, UM bolts Sun Life to return home to Little Havana, it'll expand to 40-45K. I have to believe this will be the likely scenario for UM's ultimate exit out of the Sun Life and return home to Little Havana. 

Another factor in play here is Adidas, which, btw, has the new jersey party this evening at LIV. You have to wonder does Adidas, which will have a big say on this matter, want UM to ultimately go back to Little Havana and move in with Beckham. 

Frenk has some friends in high places, namely Carlos Slim, the Mexican Billionaire, and one of the richest men in the world. You wonder if Slim will cut Ross a check to help UM out of the Sun Life lease. 

Here's what Blake said about the whole thing in the Herald: “It’s an exciting day for soccer fans in the South Florida area. I congratulate them on moving forward, With that said, we are in a contract with Sun Life Stadium and are excited to open our season there on Sept. 5, in many ways in a brand new stadium that will enhance our fan experience.”

He adds, when asked by Jackson, if UM will consider joining Beckham in Little Havana down the road: 
“I will always keep all  options open, My preference is for the University of Miami to have the best home for football and right now that is Sun Life Stadium.”

Translation: We're happy where we are now, but I won't close the door on possibly coming back to our roots in Little Havana, if Beckham and MLS gives us 40K over there, we'll seriously consider making this happen. 

In closing, there's still a lot of moving parts to this story, and we'll have to see how this plays out after Frenk takes office in the Ashe Building on 9/1. Its going to be very interesting to see what happens here with this whole Stadium situation. 

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article27488947.html#storylink=cpy


Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article27488947.html#storylink=cpy


Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article27488947.html#storylink=cpyUM not being at the table. The private college has 17 years left in its lease with the Miami Dolphin at Sun Life Stadium, and breaking that deal would be costly. Housing UM also would move Beckham’s 25,000-seat soccer stadium to about 40,000 seats, complicating the budget and design logistics.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article27488947.html#storylink=cpy