BusinessBall: Beckham's Soccer Palace

By: Michael Lovero (@mlovero30)

David Beckham gets his land in Miami

Over four years ago, soccer legend David Beckham and others started a group to bring professional soccer to Miami. Last week, a major step forward happened: they finally got land they needed.

It took a while for Miami-Dade County to issue Beckham's group a grant for land in Miami, but it happened. The land that was given to Beckham and company will be used to build a new stadium for a potential expansion team based in Miami. Not sure if it is going to be called Miami United or maybe even Beckham United. But if construction goes well and Major League Soccer allows for Beckham's team to play in the MLS, then soccer will come to Miami.

In total, David Beckham needed a total of nine acres of land to build a 25,000-seat stadium. The group already spent $19 million for six of the nine acres. Miami-Dade County approved for the other three acres to be sold to Beckham and company for $9 million. And the best part of this building is that Beckham fully intends to fund the stadium privately, which means little tax dollars will be spent on the stadium, which is something Miami Marlins' owner Jeff Loria was notorious for when building the Marlins' new stadium. Tax dollars will hopefully be saved.

But this saga is a very interesting one. When Beckham signed with the LA Galaxy in 2007, the contract gave him permission to start up an expansion team. He officially started up a group in 2013, but since then not much has progressed. Mainly because of the land.

There have been debates over allowing Beckham to get land in the specific location he wanted in Miami. People in favor of Beckham are tired of seeing the empty lot in Miami, which officials have described as an eyesore. Bringing a team and a new stadium to Miami could bring attention and revenue.

However, the stadium will be in a residential area with homes around it. People in the neighborhood have expressed concern over the stadium. Also, to what extent will a new stadium help in regards to bringing in revenue for the town? There are studies that have proven that stadium building does very little to a city's economy. Economists Dennis Coates and Brad Humphreys have studied the economic effects of stadiums in their respective cities and have found not much of an economic impact in most of the sectors. The biggest changes only come with parks and recreations and restaurant sectors.

Whichever side you may be on, Major League Soccer is looking to expand. Could this be an over expansion, though? Miami has not had a major professional soccer team since 2001 when the Miami Fusion last played. They only lasted four years. It will take a while to find the answer; Beckham's team plans to start playing in 2020.

Overtime

In an HBO original movie about the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Al Pacino has been scheduled to play the role of Joe Paterno. Pacino will play the tragic story as the winningest coach in NCAA football history during times of turmoil in his years with Penn State. It already sounds like a must-watch.

Los Angeles Dodgers affiliates Ogden Raptors had a promotional idea and then quickly scrapped it. 'Hourglass Appreciation Night' was a promotional event that the marketing "geniuses" with Ogden scheduled for August 11 that was a night to appreciate the curves on a female body. This was serious. Was. Serious. I get the joke they were trying to make, saying baseball is a slow sport and hourglasses are slow as well, but the execution was poor. It did not help that they Tweeted out "Guys... get your tickets now." No need to make baseball a sexist or creepy man's sport.

Game one of the Women's College World Series between Oklahoma and Florida was one for the ages. The Sooners won the National Championship after a two game sweep over the one-seed Florida, but game one was the one to remember. It took 17 innings for Oklahoma to come out victorious. It was a game for the ages.

Chelsea F.C. released their new home kit with first-year sponsor Nike. In October 2016, Chelsea bought themselves out of their sponsorship with Adidas and switched to Nike worth £60 million until 2032. Nike will also be the kit provider of Tottenham Hotspur next season, taking them away from Under Armour.

Michael Lovero is a Marketing and Sports Management major in the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University and is an assistant sports director at WSOU.