In 2007, Major League Soccer pursued and secured a major coup for the sport stateside; they lured and signed one of the most recognizable world soccer (football) stars in David Beckham. This man was the beginning of the desire by the league to sign past their prime, but recognizable talent. After all, before being named the designated player rule, it was known as the Beckham rule.

MLS is now continuing this trend and continuing their relationship with the namesake that is Beckham by attempting to make him the figurehead owner of an expansion franchise in Miami. As part of his MLS deal as a player, Beckham was given the right to buy an MLS franchise after his playing career ended for $25 million, a $75 million discount on the usual $100 million expansion fee.1

Though Miami, and Florida as a whole, has had issues fully supporting teams of any sport, Beckham is going to the sunshine state to compete with soon-to-be expansion team, Orlando City SC.2 Things haven’t gone particularly smoothly for Beckham’s ownership dreams. What’s the holdup?

The first hurdle was acquiring deeper pockets. Beckham, while certainly rich to most any standard, is no billionaire sports owner of the current day. MLS needs stable franchises. With their desire to have 24 franchises by 2020, any retraction of teams or folding of a new franchise will be both an income and public relations nightmare for a league that giving off a vibe of a strong future.

Beckham solved this issue by bringing in Bolivian billionaire Marcelo Claure; a communications/tech entrepreneur that build up Brightstar to one of the biggest international communications companies (founded in Miami) and the newest President/CEO of Sprint. There will be little to no issues with financial stability with Claure on board for Miami.

The most important part of Claure’s inclusion to the ownership group may be the stadium requirements put down by MLS and Miami-Dade county separately. MLS is – intelligently – requiring that any Miami expansion team build a stadium in downtown Miami. Though it may seem strange, I think this is one of the most thoughtful requirements by MLS for this franchise.

The league office has seen first hand how an MLS team can fail in Miami and how teams from all sports have struggled in the Miami area. By placing the stadium in downtown in a prime location, MLS will secure an ability for fans to attend games. They’ve seen the crowds that showed up to Miami Heat games when they had LeBron James and were constant title contenders. But, no matter how you feel about it, Miami seems to have a strong fair-weather fandom issue. Any help to bolster against that issue will be of the utmost importance for Beckham’s expansion team.

On the city/county administration side, they are resistant to the two plots of land that Beckham/Claure have pushed for so far and often cite the need for Miami FC to fund their stadium privately. This doesn’t seem to be an issue as CBS Miami reported, “Beckham and his backers have always stated that they don’t want any public money and the stadium would be built entirely out of private funds.” Literal funds aren’t the only way that stadiums extract money from cities of course. This makes one wonder if Beckham/Claure are demanding extreme tax breaks on the prime land that they’re hoping to use for a stadium.

As of yet, the first two stadium locations have been denied by Miami-Dade county for various reasons ranging from the need of cruise ship companies to resident dissent.

Once the stadium hurdle is cleared, not a guarantee but certainly a likely outcome, the rest of the process for Beckham will be relatively simple. His gaze will then turn to hiring coaches and executives, choosing a team name/colors, and finding his inevitable three designated players.

I personally hope that Miami FC sticks with a name like Miami United (rumored) or Miami FC and allows a nickname to evolve or be implied. Much like the trend of NYCFC, Sporting KC, and Real Salt Lake and in opposition of names like Chicago Fire, Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls. With Claure’s connection to Sprint, I am rather fearful of a name like the Miami Sprint.

The expansion of MLS has been exciting for U.S. soccer fans that would love to see a truly competitive club league in the states. Though the tradition of salary caps and drafts may be a detriment to that, more money at the ownership level will help bring in top talent. I’m intrigued by the names that will be linked to Beckham’s club prior to 2016/2017 when they plan to join the league.