Inter Miami CF

Team information

Inaugural season: 2020

Home field: DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Owner: David Beckham, Jorge and Jose Mas

Team colors: Pink, black, and white

Overview

Inter Miami CF is a professional soccer team that plays in North America’s Major League Soccer (MLS). The team’s official name is Spanish, Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, but the team is more commonly referred to in English as Inter Miami CF. Inter Miami is South Florida’s second attempt at an MLS team; it was preceded by the Miami Fusion, a club that existed from 1998 to 2002. Inter Miami's inaugural season in 2020 was disrupted by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and the club failed to make the playoffs in 2021. Then, despite improving to a 14–14–6 record in 2022, the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Inter Miami became the focus of international scrutiny in 2023 when it was announced that Argentine superstar Lionel Messi signed a contract with the team.

History

Prior to the formation of Major League Soccer in the 1990s, the most successful professional soccer league in the United States and Canada was the North American Soccer League (NASL), which existed from 1968 to 1984. At its peak in the late 1970s, the NASL comprised twenty-four teams. A Miami franchise initially called the Miami Gatos began NASL play in 1972. A year later, the team was renamed the Toros. The Toros remained in Miami through the 1976 season, after which the club moved to Fort Lauderdale. The club moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1984, and folded along with the NASL at season’s end.

Buoyed by the positive response to the United States hosting the 1994 FIFA World Cup, a group of investors sought to create a new soccer league in the 1990s. Major League Soccer began play in 1996 with franchises in ten US cities. The league’s first attempt at expansion included the Chicago Fire and the Miami Fusion, both of which began play in 1998. After a slow start, Miami posted a 2001 mark of 16 wins, 5 ties, and 5 losses—good enough to win the Supporters’ Shield for the league’s best record. However, 2001 was to be the Fusion’s last stand as poor ticket sales and declining revenues forced the team to fold after the season.

The early- to mid-2000s was an uncertain time for Major League Soccer as well. The league was struggling financially and some business experts predicted it would eventually fold. However, two important events during that time period would help shape the league’s future. First, the US Men’s National Team surprised the world by making a run to the quarterfinals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Their unexpectedly good showing gave MLS a boost and the league slowly began to get back on its financial footing.

The second event occurred in 2007 when English superstar David Beckham signed a five-year, $32.5-million deal with the LA Galaxy. Beckham’s arrival created a frenzy of attention for the franchise and MLS itself. He was easily the highest-profile soccer star of the era, and his marriage to British pop star Victoria Beckham only increased his celebrity. By 2007, Beckham had carved out a legendary fifteen-year career at the highest levels of European soccer, and his move to MLS gave the league instant credibility. However, Beckham’s presence on the field paid off in more than jersey sales and attendance. He helped the Galaxy win back-to-back MLS titles in 2011 and 2012, and was named to a list of the best MLS players of all time in 2020.

When Beckham signed his contract in 2007, he was granted the option of acquiring a future MLS franchise for $25 million. After leaving Los Angeles in 2012, Beckham played one season with Paris Saint-Germain before retiring as a player in 2013. A year earlier, MLS officials announced their intention of placing an expansion franchise in Miami. With Beckham’s retirement, the league offered him the rights to the potential club. After a series of negotiations, MLS announced that Beckham would become primary investor-operator of the Miami expansion club, contingent on arranging financing for a new stadium. MLS investor-operators are shareholders in the league rather than owners in the traditional sense. In 2018, Beckham and a group of investors that included local businessmen Jorge and Jose Mas were officially awarded the new Miami franchise.

The team chose the official name, Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, to serve as a connection to the city’s prominent Spanish-speaking community. More commonly, the team name is shortened to Inter Miami CF. The club’s logo is full of symbolic images meant to represent the city, region, and even Beckham himself. The logo is set on a pink-outlined black circle with the team name emblazoned on top and the Roman numerals MMXX (for the inaugural season of 2020) on bottom. A pink-outlined shield design sits at the center of the circle and upon that shield are two white herons with their legs crossed to form the shape of the letter M. The design also provides the team with its informal nickname, the Herons. Between the birds is a rising sun with seven ray points meant to symbolize the number 7 worn by Beckham during his career with England’s Manchester United club.

Miami was scheduled to play its first home game in March 2020, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused MLS to suspend the season. As a result, the team did not get to play at Inter Miami CF Stadium until August. Even then, because of restrictions imposed by local health officials, the team played before mainly empty stadiums. Only a limited number of fans were allowed to see the team play in person. Miami finished the season at 7 wins, 3 ties, and 13 losses, which was good enough to secure the final playoff spot. However, the team lost in the opening round play-in game. In 2021, Miami went 12–5–17, finishing twenty-first out of the twenty-seven MLS teams and missing the playoffs.

In 2021, naming rights for the team’s Fort Lauderdale-based stadium were purchased by the local auto retailer AutoNation. The company rebranded the facility as DRV PNK Stadium, meant to be pronounced “drive pink,” as an effort to highlight its commitment to breast cancer research.

Inter Miami improved to a 14–14–6 record for the 2022 season, which qualified the team for the MLS Cup Playoffs. However, Inter Miami was defeated in the first round by New York City FC. In 2023, the team became the center of a massive media frenzy when Lionel Messi, who many consider to be one of the greatest soccer players of all time, joined the team in July of that year. Messi's move brought an immense amount of attention to the team, and ESPN reported that secondhand ticket sale prices jumped by more than 1,000 percent shortly after Messi's arrival. In August of that year, Inter Miami won its first Leagues Cup, an international tournament between the MLS and Liga MX, a Mexican professional soccer league.

Notable players

Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuaín established himself as Miami's leading goal scorer prior to his retirement in 2022 and led the team in goals during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, while Scottish winger Lewis Morgan led the team in goals during the 2020 season. Midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro, who joined Miami from Mexico’s Monterrey club, not only scored the first goal in franchise history, but was named Miami’s first-ever All-Star in 2021. American goalkeeper Luis Robles started fifteen games for Miami in 2020, while Dutch goalkeeper Nick Marsman started twenty-two in 2021. American goalkeeper John McCarthy started twenty games with Miami over two seasons. Marsman led the team with five shutouts, while McCarthy was second with three.

In 2021, the signing of French midfielder Blaise Matuidi and Colombian defender Andrés Reyes was found to have violated the league’s designated-player rules, and Miami was hit with significant financial penalties. Both players were on the team’s 2020 roster and should have been counted as designated players. The league fined Miami a record $2 million and the team lost more than $2 million in allocation money for player signings in 2022 and 2023.

The 2023 signing of Lionel Messi served as the highest-profile acquisition for the team to date. Considered a generational talent, Messi won a record seven Ballon d'Or trophies prior to his signing with Miami, which is considered by many to be the most prestigious award given to an individual player. A win for Argentina (with Messi as team captain) at the 2022 FIFA World Cup further solidified Messi's status as one of the sport's best. His move to Inter Miami brought massive attention to both the team and Major League Soccer, and the Washington Post reported that record-breaking amounts of fans were crowding stadiums to watch Messi play shortly after his arrival.

Bibliography

Borg, Simon. “Inter Miami Issued Record Fine for Breaking MLS Roster, Budget Rules.” Sporting News, 28 May 2021, www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/inter-miami-record-fine-mls-roster-budget-rules/5duzpd81fbpj1cucq47cbq4f7. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.

De la Fuente, Homero. “Lionel Messi and Inter Miami Capture First Trophy in Club History with Nail-Biting Victory over Nashville FC in Leagues Cup Final.” CNN, 20 Aug. 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/08/20/sport/lionel-messi-inter-miami-leagues-cup-win-spt-intl/index.html. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023.

Floyd, Thomas. "Lionel Messi Keeps Packing Stadiums and Stacking Goals for Inter Miami." The Washington Post, 15 Aug. 2023, www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/08/15/lionel-messi-mls-inter-miami-leagues-cup/. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023.

Hajducky, Dan. "The Messi Effect: New Miami Star Brings Big Business to MLS." ESPN, 1 Aug. 2023, www.espn.com/soccer/story/‗/id/38082893/the-messi-effect-new-miami-star-brings-big-business-mls. Accessed 29 Aug. 2023.

Hewson, Anthony K. Inter Miami CF. ABDO, 2021.

Hutcherson, J. “How Good Was the ’01 Miami Fusion?” United States National Soccer Team Players Association, 19 Dec. 2020, ussoccerplayers.com/2020/05/how-good-was-the-01-miami-fusion.html. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.

“Inter Miami CF Stats and History.” FB Reference, 2021, fbref.com/en/squads/cb8b86a2/history/Inter-Miami-Stats-and-History. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.

“Inter Miami Logo.” Logos-World.net, 18 Apr. 2021, logos-world.net/inter-miami-logo/. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.

Marsh, Charlotte, Joe Prince-Wright, and Michelle Kaufman. “Beckham, Neville and the 2021 MLS Season: The Story of Inter Miami.” Sky Sports, 2021, www.skysports.com/football/story-telling/12096/12270709/the-story-of-inter-miami-david-beckham-phil-neville-and-the-2021-mls-season-on-sky. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.

“Rodolfo Pizarro Becomes Inter Miami’s First-Ever MLS All-Star.” Inter Miami CF, 23 Aug. 2021, www.intermiamicf.com/news/rodolfo-pizarro-becomes-inter-miami-s-first-ever-mls-all-star. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.

Rucker, Jael. “Major League Soccer History: How MLS Became a Big Business.” ONE37pm, 18 Feb. 2021, www.one37pm.com/strength/sports/major-league-soccer-history. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.