Beckham ain’t no Lebron but Marcelo Claure could be our Cuban.

By Gonzalo López Martí @LopezMartiMiami

Dear Mr. Marcelo Claure.
You are a long-time Miami resident.
An accomplished entrepreneur.
It’d be fair to say you are the most successful Hispanic businessman living in the US today.
You amassed one bulky personal fortune and built a global corporate juggernaut from scratch.
Not in real estate like all those big shots driving flashy, second-hand Maseratis around town: you made your money in the highly competitive field of mobile telecommunications.
You employ hundreds of people locally and thousands more across the world.
This community owes you a lot.
You are an example for this town and for Latinos all over the planet.
Question: what’s your exact share & role in the bid to start an MLS franchise in Miami?
Who’s calling the shots?
How much cash are you putting on the table?
Pardon my indiscretion.
I’m asking because I’m a little intrigued about the whole “Beckham’s stadium” and “Beckham’s soccer team” hubbub.
Did I say intrigued?
Actually I’m pissed.
I think, Mr. Claure, that you betrayed a hint of an inferiority complex throughout this process by allowing Becks to attract all the attention.
Hence, I want to set the record straight.
My guess is you’re pretty much running and bankrolling this venture all by yourself and Becks is taking all the credit.
By the way, did someone advise you to play second fiddle behind pretty boy David to increase the odds of pulling this off?
Was it the MLS?
Local politicians?
Publicists or PR handlers of some kind?
OK, we know the Beckham camp is somehow chipping in with 15 million, sort of.
An MLS franchise costs 40 million.
Retail.
When Becks negotiated his contract with the LA Galaxy a few years back, he got the MLS brass to award him the option of a 15 million discount if and when he wanted to start a team after his retirement.
It’s a start but someone will have to shell out the extra 25 mil.
Plus another chunk of change to lease the land and build the stadium (the MLS only awards franchises to teams that own and operate a proprietary venue).
Plus another wad of cash to sign 20+ top players and a coach.
Plus another pile of moolah to hire a few dozen staff.
This is a 300 million dollar project, give or take.
Calling it “Beckham’s team” or “Beckham’s stadium” simply because he attended a few press conferences and contributed 15 million in funny money is an exaggeration to say the least.
In the big scheme of things, David Beckham is just a figurehead, a hired PR gun.
A very junior partner at best.

Our Cuban from Bolivia.
As I said, Mr. Claure, you are one of Miami’s finest.
You actually own a pretty successful soccer team in your home country, Bolivia.
We would’ve rooted for you regardless.
Iregardless, as we like to say in Miami.
You could easily become our Cuban.
Our Mark Cuban, that is.
As in the famous billionaire serial entrepreneur who bought and runs the Dallas Mavericks.
What made you think, Mr. Claure, that you needed David Beckham’s dwindling star power for this?
Granted, we Miamians have been known to behave like a bunch of shameless groupies.
Guilty as charged.
I remember when Ian Schrager’s The Delano was opened and people called it “Madonna’s hotel”.
LOL
It was one savvy PR ploy, let me tell you.
The trick works, no question about it.

Beckham ain’t Lebron.
Can Becks embody the spirit of fútbol in Miami?
Meh.
He was a lackluster player.
He was far from being a Lebron type of athlete.
Physically and psychologically.
His claim to fame was changing his hairstyle every other month.
And marrying Posh Spice.
He never won a World Cup.
England made the mistake of naming him captain of their national team.
Lo and behold, England hasn’t won a decent international accolade in generations.
His tenure with Real Madrid, arguably the high of his career, was nothing to write home about.
Compared to, say, real players like Raúl, Zidane or Figo.
To add insult to injury, Spain holds little love for Mrs. Beckham after she allegedly remarked that “Spain smells of garlic.”
Welcome to Miami, Posh.
I suggest you get to work on the pastelitos.
The medianoches.
The ceviche.
The empanadas.
The arepas.
The coladas.
Put some meat on those bones, will ya?
Down here we like our women with plenty curves, i.e., Sofía Vergara.
Plastic surgeons? We have them by the truckload and they will be more than willing to sculpt your bony body.

Fútbol with an accent.
Now let’s pretend for a second that Becks is really a fully invested, hands-on backer in this project.
Let’s think for a moment that his brand will really help carry it through to fruition.
Let’s say he’ll keep throwing his weight and his own cash into the gig further into the future.
OK.
Once again, why David Beckham?
What are his business credentials to, say, navigate the politics and economics of a project of this nature?
To my knowledge, he’s spent the last 20 years of his life chasing a ball, modeling for underwear ad campaigns and getting funky dye jobs.
Is he planning on moving here with his family?
What’s his cultural or emotional connection to this community?
How many times had he visited Miami prior to this project?
Why partner up with Becks and not with, say, el Pibe Valderrama, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Rafa Márquez, Martín Palermo, Kaká, Roberto Carlos, José Luis Chilavert, Javier Zanetti, Juan Sebastián Verón, Oscar Córdoba, all of the above?
There are so many Latino soccer players that would be more than happy to be a part of this.
Sure, from a marketing standpoint it could be argued that Latinos are not an issue here.
When it comes to soccer, we are already in the bag.
No need to proselytize.
No need to preach to the choir.
Yeah, we can be taken for granted.
We’re gonna show up (at least once).
We’re gonna make some noise.
The challenge here is to expand the soccer fan base to attract Anglos.
And women.
Of all ages.
Good point.
But, hey, remember that Miami fans of all ethnicities and genders are pretty hard to get and harder to please.
It’s not that we have a love-hate relationship with our sports franchises.
It’s a love-indifference relationship.
Heat fans, for instance, are known across the country for being a tough crowd of detached and demanding folk with no qualms at walking away from the bleachers before games are over.
The Miami Heat for God’s fxxxxxg sake!
We are talking about the most successful, star-studded & charismatic team in the history of the NBA.
Yet our fans couldn’t be bothered.
We have way too many pastimes down here: beaches, boating, fishing, parks.
Day & night, you name it.
If you want us to shell out 150 bucks to bring our families to a game, you’d better make it worth our while.
Can we be sure that David Beckham will stir the much needed emotional exuberance a soccer team needs to be relevant and profitable?
Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just asking.
It is not my intention to apply reverse discrimination here, like that Mexican dude at Chivas America in California who allegedly harassed two monolingual (English only) members of his staff and got slapped with a lawsuit for it.
Nor am I trying to start some sort of witch-hunt against carpetbaggers.
We’re all carpetbaggers in this town.
Only that some carpetbaggers are better than others.
So, to wrap it up: Mr. Claure, we are rooting for you.
We’re grateful that you are pursuing this venture.
Miami supports your bid.
Big time.
Try to surround yourself with the right people.
Don’t let the body politic twist your arm.
It ain’t gonna be easy.