The new Inter Miami stadium in Miami is not scheduled to open until the start of the 2026 MLS seasonpera7, but already, Miami Freedom Park got a significant assist from the State of Florida.
Governor Ron DeSantis was at the team’s temporary home, Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, on Thursday to announce that the state is granting $8 million to Miami-Dade County to assist with infrastructure around the stadium, including constructing a roadway to relieve traffic around the new stadium park project, which is adjacent to Miami International Airport.
In addition to a 26,700-seat stadium, the project includes a 58-acre park, hotels, offices, retail and entertainment venues.
“As much as I love sports, we just don’t believe that we give money to build sports stadiums, we’ve never done that with our state money,” DeSantis said. “Local governments sometimes make those decisions, but from the state perspective, it’s not anything we’ve ever done and not anything we are going to do.
“But, when these projects are being done..people are going to want to go, and are they going to be able to get there, will it cause more traffic? And that’s particularly true in South Florida because anything can happen, and all of a sudden you have a backup and it’s very difficult…our role as that state government is not to give money to a team, but to create an environment where everyone can be successful.”
He said Miami Freedom Park will be “not just a stadium, but a great economic engine” in the community.
The money will come from the Governor’s Job Growth Grant Fund, which is used for workforce and infrastructure.
“We will be creating a nice artery so people will be able to get where they need to go,” DeSantis said, adding that it would benefit not only soccer fans but anyone who will be traveling in and out of the adjacent offices, restaurants, hotels and the park.
Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas, who was at the announcement along with his brother Jose, lauded the news as the latest chapter in the team’s “Freedom to Dream” mission.
“My parents fled Cuba and fled a dictatorship to find freedom in this country,” Mas began. “And to be able to stand here before you talking about a global team, and about being able to give back to our community, about bringing the most popular global sport and build what is going to be transformational in Miami, not just a stadium, but a destination.”
Mas said the project will create more than 13,000 direct and indirect jobs and generate more than $40 million in tax revenue between state and local governments.
“This fund is going to be used to benefit an impoverished area of our community because one of the things that land and Miami Freedom Park will create beside the stadium is the largest park in the City of Miami,” Mas said.
He added that he expects the stadium construction to be completed in late 2025 and that Inter Miami would open its 2026 season at the new facility.
The Mas brothers and co-owner David Beckham spent years trying to secure a location for a stadium. Finally, in April of 2022, The city commission voted 4-1 to green-light the team’s proposed $1 billion Miami Freedom Park stadium project.
The MLS club kicked off its inaugural season in March 2020 in Fort Lauderdale with the understanding that the team would eventually move to Miami, which was the league’s condition when Beckham’s quest for a team 10 years ago. After years of political in-fighting and delays, the commission voted to give the Inter Miami group the go-ahead to build the project on the site of the Melreese Golf Course.
From the moment MLS kicked off nearly 30 years ago, the league’s goal has been to have a team in the Miami city limits that would cater to the soccer-crazed melting pot population and become a bilingual global brand that would extend the league’s reach into South and Central America and the Caribbean.
The idea was to get fans from those regions to adopt the Miami team as their U.S. based team, buy team merchandise, watch games on TV, get to know the league, see beautiful views of the city skyline and travel to Miami to watch MLS games in person.
The signing of Argentine superstar and World Cup champion Lionel Messi last summer raised the profile of the club all over the world and attracted other top stars such as Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez to join the team.
“What we’ve seen in soccer in South Florida has been incredible, especially when they brought Messi on,” DeSantis said. “That was like the biggest thing ever, having a global superstar like that right here is a really big deal for our community. And then we’re going to parlay that into having the World Cup here in 2026, so we’re excited about all that.”
This story was originally published August 8, 2024, 6:29 PM.
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