Inter Miami CF is a professional American soccer team based in Miami. The team has a relatively short history, and the first step that got the ball rolling came in 2007 when David Beckham signed with the MLS side LA Galaxy. As part of his contract, Beckham received the option to purchase an expansion team in America for only $25 million.
However, it wasn't until 2014, after retiring from soccer, that the English legend decided to exercise this option and establish a team in Miami under his group called Miami Beckham United. After four years, on January 29, 2018, David Beckham and his group were granted the twenty-fifth franchise in MLS and were scheduled to debut in the 2020 season.
Following the big announcement, on September 5, 2018, Inter Miami revealed the name, crest, and colors of the club. Moving on, to create a state-of-the-art facility for their fans and players alike, on May 8, 2019, the old Lockhart Stadium was demolished to make way for the new DRV PNK Stadium. This stadium now serves as Inter Miami's home ground and permanent training center.
Then a year later on March 1, 2020, Inter Miami played its inaugural MLS match against Los Angeles FC, in which the debutant side suffered a narrow 1-0 loss. The club recorded its first-ever victory on August 22, 2020, with a 3-2 win over Orlando City SC in their first-ever match on their home ground.
The most known figure in Inter Miami's ownership is soccer legend David Beckham. Joining him are prominent businessmen brothers Jorge Mas and Jose Mas. Initially, Bolivian tech businessman Marcelo Claure and Japanese businessman Masayoshi Son were also part of the ownership team at the club's inception.
However, in 2021, the Mas brothers and Beckham united to consolidate their stakes in the club. Concurrently, investment management company Ares Management made a significant equity investment of $150 million in Inter Miami.
Manager Name | Nationality | Managerial Reign |
Diego Alonso | Uruguay | December 2019-January 2021 |
Phil Neville | England | January 2021-June 2023 |
Javier Morales (Interim) | Argentina | June 2023-July 2023Â |
Gerardo Martino | Argentina | July 2023-Â Â |
Player Name | Nationality | Jersey Number | Position |
Drake Callender | America | 1 | Goalkeeper |
DeAndre Yedlin | America | 2 | Defender |
Dixon Arroyo | Ecuador | 3 | Midfielder |
Christopher McVey | Sweeden | 4 | Defender |
Sergio Busquets | Spain | 5 | Midfielder |
Tomas Aviles | Argentina | 6 | Defender |
Jean Mota | Brazil | 7 | Midfielder |
Diego Gomez | Paraguay | 8 | Midfielder |
Leonardo Campana | Ecuador | 9 | Forward |
Lionel Messi | Argentina | 10 | Forward |
Facundo Farias | Argentina | 11 | Midfielder |
Corentin Jean | France | 14 | Forward |
Ryan Sailor | America | 15 | Defender |
Robert Taylor | Finland | 16 | Forward |
Jordi Alba | Spain | 18 | Defender |
Robbie Robinson | America | 19 | Forward |
Nicolas Stefanelli | Argentina | 22 | Midfielder |
Ian Fray | America | 24 | Defender |
Gregore | Brazil | 26 | Midfielder |
Sergii Kryvtsov | Ukraine | 27 | Defender |
Edison Azcona | Dominican Republic | 28 | Midfielder |
CJ Dos Santos | America | 29 | Goalkeeper |
Benjamin Cremaschi | America | 30 | Midfielder |
Kamal Miller | Canada | 31 | Defender |
Noah Allen | American | 32 | Defender |
Franco Negri | Argentina | 33 | Defender |
David Ruiz | America | 41 | Midfielder |
Lawson Sunderland | America | 43 | Midfielder |
Santiago Morales | America | 81 | Midfielder |
Cole Jensen | America | 99 | Goalkeeper |
Luis Suarez | Uruguay | Forward |
In September 2020, Inter Miami made their first major acquisition by signing Argentine soccer legend and ex-Real Madrid star Gonzalo Higuain as a designated player. However, the real game-changer came on July 15, 2023, when Inter Miami shocked the world by securing the signing of World Cup winner Lionel Messi.
Inter Miami offered a lucrative two-and-a-half-year contract with an astounding $54 million per season in salary to acquire the services of the Argentine maestro. A couple of days later, they continued to make waves by adding another one of Messi's former teammates and 2010 World Cup winner Sergio Busquets to their roster.
Busquets earns an impressive salary of up to $10 million per season with Inter Miami. The chain of high-profile signings didn't stop there, as Jordi Alba joined the team just days later with a salary of $1,600,000 per season. And finally, on December 22, 2023, Inter Miami secured yet another legendary striker with the addition of Uruguayan superstar Luis Suarez to their ranks.
On August 19, 2023, Inter Miami won their inaugural trophy in the Leagues Cup finals against Nashville SC. Just a month later on 27th September 2023 Inter Miami came close to winning their second title in the US Open Cup but fell short and lost the final 1-2 against Houston Dynamo.
Inter Miami has formed partnerships with several esteemed companies, including XBTO, Fracht Group, AutoNation, Baptist Health, Florida Blue, Heineken, Adidas, Royal Caribbean, BDO, BodyArmor, Celsius, Coca-Cola, Continental, La Tropical, and Ticketmaster.