Saturday 10 December 2016 07:32, UK
MLS commissioner Don Garber has admitted there is a deadline for David Beckham to bring a team to Miami.
Garber would not specify when former England captain Beckham has to complete a deal for Miami to become the league's 24th team, but said he could not wait much longer because of further expansion plans.
Beckham announced almost three years ago that he intended to bring an MLS team to South Florida, but his plans have so far been stymied because of trouble securing a stadium deal.
He has seen plans for two waterfront sites rejected by local politicians, and a possible stadium development next to the home of baseball's Miami Marlins also fell through - his group's current plan is to build in the Overtown district.
MLS currently has 20 teams, with Atlanta United and Minnesota United set to join in 2017, a year before Los Angeles FC and, potentially, Beckham's Miami team.
But Garber said a scheduled increase to 28 teams depended on the Miami franchise being confirmed, and plans would also need to be made if Beckham's deal falls through completely, with discussions set for the league's next board meeting on Thursday.
"There is a deadline on the Miami deal. I am not going to share that deadline, it is an agreement we have with David and (his business partner) Simon Fuller," Garber said.
"But we need to resolve the Miami situation so that we can go forward with our expansion plans for (expansion) teams 25-28 because they are team 24 and if they are not going to be 24 there are going to be a lot of things that need to move around and it is something we will discuss at our board meeting.
"There is a timetable and we continue to work with our ownership group because we want a team in Miami. We try to do everything we can to ensure we have the right recipe for success as we are building clubs that we would like to be there for the rest of time.
"We continue to to be very engaged there. We have reached agreement on land, we have investor groups, we have all sorts of community issues...zoning issues and it is all happening in real time."
