Report: David Beckham, Donna Shalala to discuss Miami stadium

Former soccer star David Beckham will talk with University of Miami president Donna Shalala on Friday about potentially partnering on a stadium to house Miami football and a Miami MLS franchise

Former soccer star David Beckham will talk with outgoing University of Miami president Donna Shalala on Friday about potentially partnering on a stadium to house Miami football and a Miami MLS franchise, according to a Miami Herald report.

MLS soccer commissioner Dan Garber is also expected to be at the meeting, and afterward is expected to meet with Miami mayor Tomas Regolado, according to the report. 

Miami currently has a lease with Sun Life Stadium, where the NFL's Miami Dolphins play. Shalala has expressed that the school's football team would do well to play in a smaller stadium closer to the university's campus.

Beckham has long attempted to bring an MLS team to the Miami area. Area officials rejected two separate MLS stadium plans from Beckham, one in the Miami Port District and the other on Biscayne Boulevard near the Miami Heat's American Airlines Arena. 

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Regolado was reportedly insulted at a suggestion made in the latter of the two stadium proposals that the MLS tenant rent the stadium for $500,000, according to The Guardian.

MLS has publicly stated it wishes to expand from its current 20-team format to 24 teams, and then beyond that even further. Orlando City SC is the only MLS team in the southeastern United States.

- Will Green