Inter Miami set to play long-awaited home opener against in-state rival Orlando City

Khobi Price, South Florida Sun Sentinel
·1 min read

When David Beckham announced his plans to launch a Major League Soccer expansion club in Miami six years ago, this couldn’t have been what he imagined for the team’s home-opener.

Beckham, the club’s co-owner and president of soccer operations, is in England and not in attendance for the match due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The game is not taking place in the yet-to-be constructed Miami Freedom Park, but over 30 miles away from its proposed location in a quickly reconstructed stadium at the former site of Lockhart Stadium — where the Miami Fusion, South Florida’s original MLS team, played — in Fort Lauderdale.

There won’t be a fan of the team in sight, with the only “fans” in attendance being those who decided to take part in the club’s $50 “fan cutout program” at all Inter Miami closed-door home games — leaving the remainder of the 18,000-seat stadium empty.