With a 2-2 draw against Austin FC on Saturday, Inter Miami have officially completed their move to their new home, Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park.
Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas called the move “a dream come true.” It was a dream 13 years in the making for co-owner David Beckham.
Since Beckham exercised his option to purchase a team in Miami in 2013, the goal had always been to play in Miami. In the meantime, there were been failed plans for a waterfront stadium, a temporary home in Fort Lauderdale, recruiting and landing Lionel Messi — the greatest player in the world — and an MLS championship in 2025.
“Thirteen years ago, I announced Miami was my choice. We had no name. We had no fans. We had no stadium. Today, I stand in our new home. We are champions of the MLS. We have the best player in the history of the game playing in Miami. Dreams really can come true,” Beckham said to fans before the match.
There was a celebratory atmosphere in the air, but it was the kind of party where the hosts were hurriedly cleaning until moments before guests arrived.
Most of the landscaping around the stadium sat unplanted in pots, save for a few dozen scattered palm trees that were still braced by wooden supports and a few sections of artificial grass.
Certain routes around the stadium were blocked off because of ongoing construction. The parking lots were only partially paved; large swaths of land were occupied by gravel piles, construction materials and machinery. Some of the stadium’s walls were unpainted.
Just hours before kick off, staff could be seen throwing trash from the concourse into a fenced off gravel pit below. A section of the concourses was fenced off, hiding unfinished food stalls and more trash. When rain began to fall ten minutes into the game, water began leaking through some spots of the awning that covered the seats. In one section of seats, discarded ratchet straps and a few tubes of industrial caulk were left strewn about.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber said that inside, the stadium was beautiful, and was impressed with the accelerated construction timeline.
“It still got some work to be done.” he said. “Frankly, I was here a month ago, and what's happened in the last 30 days to where they are today is just remarkable. It's way further along than I expected it to be.”
Garber says he’s opened 25 stadiums in his time as commissioner, but that Nu Stadium “could rival any sports facility in the world.”
“ They've done the unthinkable. The stadium is spectacular, it's breathtaking,” said Garber.
The 26,700-seat stadium is the centerpiece of a $1.3 billion, 131-acre development that includes plans for a 58-acre park, youth athletic fields, a hotel and more than $1 million square feet of retail and office space. For now, the area is mostly gravel and construction machinery.
Fans were unfazed about the aesthetic shortcomings.
" [The stadium]'s pretty glorious. It's a special day, special moment, special place, and it looks beautiful,” said Adam Delasandro.
But he did admit that getting to the stadium was "pretty tight" due to traffic, and cars were gridlocked around the stadium for more than an hour after the final whistle. Ahead of the game, travelers headed to nearby Miami International Airport had been warned to give themselves extra time — a recognition of one of the controversies around the stadium’s location.
Many fans beat the traffic by arriving early and taking advantage of the fan fest activities near the South gate. Some fans shelled out more than $1000 for tickets to watch Inter Miami make good on its namesake city. By the time starting lineups were announced, the supporters were in full voice, chanting Messi’s name and waving their arms up and down as if to bow down to the global superstar.
It was Austin FC defender Guilherme Biro who scored the first goal in Nu Stadium history just five minutes into the match, but it was Messi who answered back, nodding home an equalizer just four minutes later. The teams traded goals in the second half to split the points, but the result was not what mattered on the night.
The MLS, whose short-lived Miami Fusion side played in Fort Lauderdale, had finally made it to Miami.
They just have to finish building the stadium.
This story was produced by WLRN, South Florida’s only public radio station at 91.3 FM, as part of a content-sharing partnership with The Biscayne Times. Read more at WLRN.org.