A proud David Beckham has shared a first look at Inter Miami’s new $750million (£566.5m) stadium ahead of its official unveiling as his club’s home ahead of their first match on the turf this Saturday.
The England legend announced the beginning of construction on the project, then called Miami Freedom Park, in 2023, three years on from the club’s founding.
Inter Miami have been based in Fort Lauderdale since their inaugural season at the 21,500 Chase Stadium, and will see their capacity boosted to 26,700 with the move close to Miami International Airport.
Beckham posted a picture to Instagram during Inter Miami’s first training session at the Nu Stadium, with the caption ‘Our new home (two pink heart emojis)’ adorning the video of the gleaming pink and white ground.
The 50-year-old also shared a post with pictures of the ground – and himself testing out the turf – to his main grid, which was celebrated by a slew of well-wishers.
His son Romeo and former team-mate Gary Neville were among those to send supportive red heart emojis in the comment section, with his mother Sandra writing: ‘So proud, ground looks amazing (pink heart black heart white heart football emojis) xx’.
David Beckham showed off the plush new home of Inter Miami – the Nu Stadium in Florida
His mother Sandra (right) said: ‘So proud, ground looks amazing’ in response to his post
The stadium sits at the heart of Miami Freedom Park itself, a billion-dollar complex billed as an entertainment district sitting atop 131 acres of Miami real estate.
Beckham and co-owner Jorge Mas had planned for the move to the Nu Stadium to coincide with star player Lionel Messi’s final season, in the summer of 2025.
With the project overdue by some nine months, it was the club’s good fortune that the Argentina superstar inked a contract extension in October which commits him to the club through the duration of the 2028 season.
By continuing his relationship with the MLS side, Messi will have the unusual honour of playing his final seasons of domestic football at a stadium where one of the stands bear his name.
With the unveiling of the stadium, the club also announced that one of their stands would be named for the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner in a ‘rare and unique case’.
‘Traditionally, tributes look to the past,’ the club’s accompanying statement read. ‘They are built from nostalgia.
‘From memory. This one is different. This one is born from the present. From what is happening right now. From what you feel every time Leo steps onto the pitch.
‘Recognising someone is not always about closing a chapter. Sometimes it is about realising you are witnessing something unique.’
The aim, the statement continued, is that ‘fans within the Leo Messi Stand will receive moments of surprise and delight as part of the experience in this special and historic section’.
But while Inter Miami fans will be clamouring to attend their first match at that new stadium, one person unlikely to make the trip is Beckham’s eldest son Brooklyn.
Along with the unveiling, Inter Miami announced that they will name a stand after their star player Lionel Messi
The England icon’s son Romeo also congratulated his father on the ground’s completion
US-based Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz kept a low profile in Los Angeles in mid-March when his estranged father and brother Romeo visited his new hometown, with the family rift between the son and his parents rolls on.
A source told the Daily Mail: ‘There is absolutely no contact between Brooklyn and his parents and there hasn’t been for some time, it is desperately sad, but that is how Brooklyn has chosen to live his life with Nicola.
‘They didn’t see one another, if fate had intervened and they did come face to face, it would have been very awkward.
‘Brooklyn has made it very clear he doesn’t want anything to do with David or Victoria, so it probably saved a whole lot of upset for David’.
